Don't Tell Anyone by Peg Kehret

From the Publisher

Only Megan knows that feral cats live in the field that's about to be bulldozed. An odd man offers to help her save them, but there's something not quite right about his offer. Then, after witnessing a car accident, Megan begins receiving disturbing notes. Not knowing who to trust, Megan will have to rely on her wits in order to save the cats-and herself-from the treacherous adventures that lie ahead.

"A great story with intriguing plot twists and plenty of action." (School Library Journal)

Children's Literature

"Megan discovered the cats by accident." This very first sentence is pregnant with possibilities that beg to be explored. Soon we discover wild cats about to be displaced by housing construction, an ex-con ready to steal and escape to a new life, and a high school valedictorian passing out advice about honesty to her little sister and confronted with following it after a hit-and-run accident. The central character of Don't Tell Anyone is connected to every one of these threads in a suspenseful, high-action novel that won't let you wait to get to the last chapter! There is a wealth of "teachable moments" in this fast-paced, easily read story. Megan Perk's experiences open the door to a wide range of family or classroom discussions about community involvement, actions and consequences, honesty, talking to strangers, and when to get grown-ups involved. 2000, Dutton Children's Books, Ages 8 to 14, $15.99. Reviewer: Karen Leggett

Kirkus Reviews

Twelve-year-old Megan Perk unwittingly becomes involved in a criminal's plan to embezzle money from a construction company and is also the only eyewitness in a serious hit-and-run accident. The chain of events starts when softhearted Megan determines to save a group of feral cats that she discovers in an empty field near her house. Shane Turner is a convicted criminal who is embezzling money from his brother-in-law's construction company. When he spots Megan hanging around the site of the company's next project, he sees his whole plan of stealing even more money and then making a perfect getaway going up in smoke. Shane's scheme requires that the construction project start right away—any busybody do-gooders interested in saving a bunch of worthless wild cats who might delay the start of the building will throw a serious wrench into the plan. As if things weren't getting complicated enough, one day when Megan is feeding the cats, she hears a screech of brakes, horns blaring, and then sees the crash as a car and a minivan plow into each other. The story comes to a suspenseful climax involving a hot-air balloon, Megan's abduction by Shane, followed by a daring escape, which she engineers. Megan's relationship with her little sister is particularly well-handled: Kehret captures the annoyance the older sibling feels towards Kylie, as well as the guilt Megan feels when she knows she's being mean to her sister. There are moments of compassion and empathy when Megan realizes that Kylie is a person with feelings, too. An absorbing and suspenseful novel with a strong female main character. (Fiction. 9-13)

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