Book Review: Trading Secrets by Melody Carlson

Rating:

“Trading Secrets ” took me by surprise. The cover inferred that it is about the Amish. What surprised me is that the story was told from the point of view of an “English” girl.

A normal 17-year old girl, Micah started corresponding with Zach, an Amish boy when she was 11 years old as part of a class project. But though the project had ended a long time ago, they continue to write and now it is time to “visit” her pen pal.

The “visit” and its subsequent effect on Micah and Zach is the meat of this coming of age story of both main characters.

In this age of smart phones, people don’t “write” letters anymore. But, author Melody Carlson brought back that now arcane practice of having a pen pal, which for the teens and YA, the target audience of this book might be unfathomable. Still, the engaging way that the author segued letter writing into the storyline is just precious!

And to the risk of being redundant, I would like to say that Trading Secrets is a precious read that has so many priceless moments.