Keeping You a Secret

Peters, Julie Anne. 2003. Keeping you a secret. New York: Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 0316702757

Plot Summary

Holland begins the second semester of her senior year under the pressure of a full course load, a boyfriend, being student body president, and her mother’s insistence that she get into a good college. Holland’s priorities shift when she meets Cece, an out and proud lesbian who recently transferred from another school. Holland soon realizes that she wants more than friendship from Cece, but Cece insists that Holland keep their relationship a secret. Holland, in the throes of first love, is unprepared for the way her world is turned upside down when the truth comes out. Holland’s friends are not supportive and her mother kicks her out, but she finds support and friendship in places she never expected.

Critical Analysis

Keeping You a Secret explores a young woman’s first crush on another woman, their passionate relationship, and the trauma of coming out in a hostile environment. “Holland's experiences will inform readers who are also discovering their sexual identity. Gay or straight, they'll identify with the excitement that accompanies that first love affair.” (Kirkus Reviews)

Holland’s character comes across as rather naïve. Holland is oblivious to the homophobic rhetoric at her school, until Cece comes along. Holland goes along with Cece’s insistence that they keep their relationship a secret without questioning the wisdom or necessity of it. When she comes out to her mom, Holland is blindsided by her mother’s intolerance and homophobia (even though the reader knows it is coming). Publisher’s Weekly wrote, “Holland's adjustment to her new sexuality after she first kisses Cece seems too sudden”, but I disagree. Holland’s naivety has protected her from painful questioning of her identity and it is only after she discovers how right everything feels with Cece that she becomes aware of how wrong her relationship with her boyfriend felt. It may be sudden, but it comes across as genuine.

The plot of the story is sufficient to convey the themes of first true love and the necessity of creating a chosen family (i.e. the gay community) to support you when your given family fails you. However, some parts of the plot fall flat. The revelation of Cece’s motives in asking Holland to keep their relationship a secret is too dramatic and based on unfounded fears; her motives reveal a critical flaw in either Cece’s maturity, the plot, or both. Holland’s mother’s extreme reaction is foreshadowed by her discomfort meeting Cece and her obsession that Holland fulfill her thwarted college ambitions, but none of the love and concern for Holland that her mother showed remains after Holland comes out. Regardless of these flat notes, the happiness Holland feels when she is with Cece comes through loud and clear.

Review Citations

2003. "Keeping you a secret (Book)." Kirkus Reviews 71, no. 8: 610.

Roback, Diane, Jennifer M. Brown, Joy Bean, and Jeff Zaleski. 2003. "Keeping you a secret (Book)." Publishers Weekly 250, no. 16: 63.