The Secret Year by Jennifer Hubbard

**2010 Debut Author Challenge List**
Reading level: Young Adult Hardcover: 208 pages Publisher: Viking Juvenile; 1 edition (January 7, 2010)

Summary: Take "Romeo and Juliet." Add "The Outsiders." Mix thoroughly.

Colt and Julia were secretly together for an entire year, and no one, not even Julia's boyfriend, knew. They had nothing in common, with Julia in her country club world on Black Mountain and Colt from down on the flats, but it never mattered. Until Julia dies in a car accident, and Colt learns the price of secrecy. He can't mourn Julia openly, and he's tormented that he might have played a part in her death. When Julia's journal ends up in his hands, Colt relives their year together at the same time that he's desperately trying to forget her. But how do you get over someone who was never yours in the first place?

My review: Let's talk about grabbing the reader. Look at the first line in the summary. What a pitch. Writers are taught about the importance of the first line, how it has to 'hook' the reader. The Secret Year not only hooked me with line number one, it yanked me by the collar and kept its grasp on me until I finished it. It was also refreshing to read another novel written from a guy's perspective (Will Grayson, Will Grayson was the other recent title I read). When the story begins Julia has died in a car accident. We get to know her through Colt's words and then from her letters. When her younger brother hands Colt a notebook he learns more about the girl he secretly met for Friday night backseat fun and walks along the river bank. He sees just how mixed up, funny, crazy and in love as he was with her.

The sad part about their relationship was its secrecy. Colt can't cry over her in public like her 'real' boyfriend can. In her debut novel Hubbard creates a stirring story of love and loss, inner growth, dependency and the ability of letting go.  Amidst all of this is an interesting and fascinating dynamic between the rich kids and the other ones from 'the flats'. Both groups are flawed by their stereotyping of others and the ease at which they judge one another. Colt stands out since has a different perspective-he's experienced life from both worlds.

There is a secondary storyline involving Colt's older brother but the main focus belongs to Colt. How he grasps and handles his emotions and behavior in the year following Julia's death is a tumultuous and trying time. Despite everything his growth as a character is believable. Recommended.
Favorite part: "Now Fridays were flat; the whole week was flat. Sometimes I couldn't believe I'd had any other life besides reading a dead girl's words and watching rain beat brown leaves off the trees. Even when I went out with Syd and the guys, I had to force myself to bring my brain along. I was always half a step behind, missing the jokes, forgetting to listen. I didn't drink with them because I wasn't sure what I might say drunk, if I would spill something stupid. It was easier to stay home alone with the notebook or walk by the river." (Page 30 in the ARC.)
Cover comment: I like the picture placed towards the bottom. It's as if we're privy to something we shouldn't be which ties in with the story. Interestingly, in the ARC version 'Colt' is practically hidden by his hair and the title is smaller and farther up the page from the couple. I like the final cover better.
Rating: ++++
For fans of: Contemporary YA.
Book source: Swapped.
Reviewed by: Laurie