Too Much Hidden in Odette’s Secret.

Review by Kelley Crawford

Odette is a young girl living in Paris, but she doesn’t have the romantic life that many connect with the City of Lights. Times are different in the 1940s, especially for Odette because she’s Jewish, and with the three starts she’s forced to wear on her sleeve, everyone knows it. Those stars bring with them taunting from other kids, hateful looks from adults, banishment from certain places, and soon the threat of death.

With her father as a prisoner of war and her mother constantly worrying about survival, there soon only becomes one option for Odette. She must leave Paris, live in Vendée (a small village in France), and pretend to be a Christian. This is exactly what she does, and even though it saves her life, Odette must hear of her friends being taken to concentration camps and live with the secret that she’s pretending to be someone she’s not. That secret might be the factor that saves her life, and it definitely helps her question who she really is.

Based off the true story of Odette Meyers, Macdonald includes historical and factual information in order to show a pain not often discussed when it comes to the war—those who were in hiding.  Macdonald writes in free-verse poetry, but there are only a few poetic devices compared to the overarching generalizations that fill the pages of the book. The story seems more like a narrative full of holes rather than a poetic sweep through Odette’s life.

Bottom Line: A fast read that provides a basic knowledge of Odette Meyers’s life.

Audience: If you liked Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse then Odette’s Secret will be a free-verse poem you will move through with ease and pleasure.