On My Bookshelf: The Secret to Letting Go by Katherine Fleet

Basic plot from Amazon: Haunted with guilt after his girlfriend's death, Daniel Hudson has no interest in committing to anyone. At the end of the summer, he'll be leaving Florida for a new start in college. If only he could avoid the mysterious new girl in town, who seems every bit as naive and eccentric as she looks. Trouble is, she's hard to ignore, with her beautiful piercing eyes, pitiful-looking dog, and unsettling tendency of finding trouble. Clover Scott lived her whole life off the grid and arrives on the Gulf coast in search of her grandparents. She never expected to nearly drown, or get caught in a hurricane, or fall in love with the boy who rescues her. Now, she has a chance to rewrite her life's story, to finally fit in somewhere, but Daniel wants answers about her past. When the police start asking questions about the disappearance of her parents, she must make a choice: go to jail or confess her secrets-even if they might destroy her chance at a happily-ever-after.

Why I liked it: The Secret to Letting Go is a perfect novel for teenage romance enthusiasts. From the moment Daniel and Clover meet until the novel's end, the whirlwind of emotions never dies down. Does he like me? Does she still like me? Do I like him? Can I trust her? Why is he holding back? Why is she acting that way? Why doesn't he want to be together? The chapters are told in alternating perspectives, sometimes from Daniel's point of view and sometimes from Clover, so you can't help but get sucked into the drama of their relationship. Despite the feelings that the two have for each other, both teenagers are haunted by events in their past. Daniel is still reeling from the suicide of a past girlfriend and Clover is still struggling to cope with her mother's death, caused by the man she believed was her father, and his subsequent suicide.

As an adult reader, I struggled with a few plot details. One was the almost immediate acceptance of Clover by Daniel's family. Another was the number of coincidences, like when Sam's father (also Clover's father) happens to be out looking for Clover during a storm, hits her as she is riding her bicycle, and then she saves him just before his truck explodes into flames.

I was also concerned with the novel's light treatment or avoidance of discussion on mental health issues. Both Daniel and Clover have suffered serious psychological trauma and the man Clover thinks is her father suffers from extreme mental illness. While young adults will hopefully never suffer the loss of both parents in a situation similar to Clover's, suicide and death are issues many teens will have to face and I wish the novel dealt more with counseling and/or treatment after these traumas. Both Daniel and Clover keep their feelings bottled up, not a healthy practice or one teens should emulate. A final desire was to see more development of the character of Morgan who came across as a stereotypical temptress. However, I doubt these minor flaws would cause any lack of enjoyment for the average teenage reader.

Classroom application: This title would be a good one to add to your high school classroom library. While there is nothing very sexual in nature in the book, the themes of violence and suicide might be a little too mature for middle school. Your romance and drama lovers will easily be hooked by this one.

If you are interested in purchasing a copy of The Secret to Letting Go for yourself, you can find it on Amazon here.

Note: The Literary Maven is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

#2ndaryELA Twitter Chat Topic: Teaching Vocabulary

Brynn Allison, The Literary Maven & Kristy, 2 Peas and a Dog are hosting #2ndaryELA on Twitter every Tuesday evening from 8 - 8:30 PM EST. #2ndaryELA is a weekly chat for secondary English Language Arts teachers focused on a topic. Every Sunday, we will post the topic and questions on our blogs to allow you to prepare for the upcoming Tuesday evening's chat. Thank you to everyone who joined us last week and we hope that you will join us again.

Looking for the recap? Click on the image below.

New in 2016 is our 2ndaryELA Facebook group, which we would love to have you join even if you aren't on Twitter. 2ndaryELA is a group of middle and high school English Language Arts teachers looking to share ideas and best practices. This group is an extension of our Twitter chat and a place for collaboration, questions, and encouragement. Feel free to post teaching ideas, success stories, resource links, photos, etc. that will enhance our instruction.

On Tuesday, March 8, our #2ndaryELA chat will focus on teaching vocabulary.

The Format:
8:00 Intros: What and where do you teach? Include a link to your blog if you have one. #2ndaryELA
8:05 Q1: What vocabulary do you explicitly teach? From texts you’re reading? A root-based program? A separate vocabulary book? #2ndaryELA
8:10 Q2:  How do you teach new vocabulary words as they arise? Share your strategies. #2ndaryELA
8:15 Q3: Do you use word walls in your classroom? How do you make effective use of them? #2ndaryELA
8:20 Q4: Do you encourage the use of paper or online dictionaries in your classroom? What are the pros and cons of each type? #2ndaryELA
8:25 Q5: Share your favorite vocabulary resources that you use in your classroom. #2ndaryELA

The Directions:
1. Log into Twitter on Tuesday from 8-8:30 PM EST.
2. Search for tweets with the hashtag #2ndaryELA in the search bar. Make sure to click “All tweets.”
3. Introductions are for the first 5 minutes.
4. Starting at 8:05 (@literarymaven or @2peasandadog) will post questions every 5 minutes using the format Q1, Q2, Q3, etc. and the hashtag #2ndaryELA.
5. Respond to questions using the format A1, A2, A3, etc. with #2ndaryELA.
6. Follow any teachers responding and who are also using #2ndaryELA.
7. Like and respond to other teachers' tweets.

You can schedule your responses to the questions ahead of time using a scheduler like TweetDeck or HootSuite (but don't forget to use A1, A2, etc. and #2ndaryELA). Links are encouraged, so be sure to use a link shortener like tinyurl, bitly, goo.gl or ow.ly Just visit one of those links and paste your long link to shorten it for Twitter. Using images is also encouraged when relevant.

New to chats? Here are the rules:
1. Stay on topic & stay positive!
2. Please do not post or promote paid products unless specifically asked.
3. If you arrive late, try to look through other posts before beginning.
4. Feel free to just read, like, and/or retweet.
5. Always use our hashtag #2ndaryELA, including in your replies to others.
6. Make sure your twitter feed is set to public. (Also keep in mind that Twitter is completely public – that means students, parents, and administrators can and will read what you tweet.)

Be sure to spread the word to any teacher friends who might be interested in joining us as well. We look forward to chatting with you Tuesday evening and in our 2ndaryELA Facebook group!

Get caught up on past chats here: