A life of secrets

Fourteen-year-old Robin is intrigued when a mysterious boarder named Mary Walker moves into her house. Unable to stop herself, she sneaks into Mary's room, reads her diary, and learns that Mary has a husband and two children in another town.

Robin can tell that Mary misses her kids desperately. In an effort to reunite Mary and her family, she befriends Mary's daughter and hatches a secret scheme to bring them together. Then her plan falls apart and the sad--and terrifying--truth behind Mary's story is finally exposed. Robin discovers that her reckless actions have put her in great danger. Now, instead of trying to fix Mary's life, she's got to find a way to save her own!What compels fourteen year-old Robin Lewis to snoop in the new boarder’s room and read her diary? Soon she’s hatching a well-intentioned yet misguided scheme to reunite Mary Walker’s broken family. When the scheme backfires Robin finds that her meddling has put her in grave danger—and she may not escape with her life! ‘A sad, powerful story of loves gone awry.’ —ALA Booklist. ‘A realistic look at the pain involved in the problems of divorce, alcoholism, and wife abuse.’—Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books.