Living in Secret

by Cristina Salat

Book Overview

Amelia has always wanted to live with her mother, and now finally she will be as she and Mom and Mom's girlfriend Janey run away to begin a new life with brand new identities far away from Daddy who... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0916020029
• ISBN13: 9780916020026
• Release Date: July 1999
• Publisher: Books MarcUs
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.0" x 8.0"
• Age Range: 10 to 15 years
• Grade Range: Grades 5 to 10

Customer Reviews

No simple solutions...

Ever since her parents got divorced, twelve-year-old Amelia Monet has longed to live with her mother. But her dad insists it isn't possible -- her mother is a lesbian, and both he and the judge believe it wouldn't be in Amy's best interests to grow up exposed to a "gay lifestyle." So, ignoring the fact that Amy isn't anywhere as close to her dad as her mom, and downright can't stand his live-in girlfriend Rosa, years pass -- until that fateful night when Amy's mother creeps up to her bedroom window with a ladder and sneaks her away. Together with Janey, her mother's longtime girlfriend, the trio runs to San Francisco to start a new life, complete with new names, new looks, and new documents. Yet as happy as Amelia is to be "Julie," finally getting to live with her mother, she can't help but constantly be afraid. She feels guilty at lying to her former best friend, who believes she ran away from home. She constantly wonders if her father, who hired a private detective, will ever catch up to them. And finally, as Amy/Julie is beginning to make new friends, she has to watch every word that comes out of her mouth, lest she slip and reveal some tiny detail that will betray she isn't who everyone thinks she is. The one main flaw of this story is perhaps in Salat's depiction of Amy's father -- he seems a bit too one-dimensional. Mr. Monet seems to have no purpose or personality other than an ogre who wants to keep his only child away from her mother, even when said child is obviously aching from the separation and is old enough to make up her own mind about the decision. That said, Salat does an overall good job, presenting a situation in which there are no simple answers.

This is a wonderful book for all young readers

I had an extremely difficult time finding a book for a preteen reader that dealt with having a gay parent. I was delighted to finally stumble upon this one. I gave it to my partner's daughter and she loved it. It's a wonderful story which details the difficulties of a young girl living under an assumed identity in order to live with her lesbian mom and her mom's girlfriend. The three of them create a happy family but Amy struggles with hiding her true identity as well as the fact that her mom is gay. The author presents these difficult issues in a compassionate, realistic, and positive manner. I highly recommend this book.

Great Book

This is a well written book with numerous issues. The young girl lives with her Dad but runs away with her mother and her mother's female lover. They drastically change their identities to hide. The main character has to deal with divorce, homosexuality, secrets and lies, and multi-cultural issues with new friends.

A great book about accepting different lifestyles

This is ine of the first really good young adult book that I have seen dealing with split families in which one parent is not straight. It shows you a really up lose look at this girls life and the extent she is willing to go to to be with her mother