Secret Keeper by Di Walker

Title: Secret Keeper

Author: Di Walker

Genre: Contemporary

Publisher: Scholastic Australia

Published: 1^st June 2025

Format: Paperback

Pages: 240

Price: $17.99

Synopsis: Change was coming. Possibly sooner than any of the friends were prepared for. Nell and Eden have been best friends forever. But now they are at the end of Year 6 and on the cusp of high school. Nell has been scouted to play in a new netball club the following year, but she doesn’t feel like she can tell Eden. And then there’s Birdie.

A mysterious girl who has moved onto Nell’s street. She is quiet and reserved and doesn’t appear to go to school. When Nell meets Birdie, their friendship begins to grow. But what secrets is Birdie hiding? And why doesn’t Nell feel she can tell Eden about netball or Birdie? A book about friendship, grief and secrets, set to the backdrop of the time of change from childhood to early adolescence.

~*~

During the last few terms of year six, Nell feels like she is drifting apart from her best friend Eden. Nell has been scouted for a rival netball team, she knows Eden and Kat do things without her at times, and she’s fascinated by the new girl a few houses down. Birdie, who never seems to come out, who doesn’t go to school and whose life seems shrouded in secrecy. The secrets are piling up, and Nell doesn’t know how to tell Eden about any of it. She’s worried she’ll upset Eden. And the last thing she wants to do is upset her best friend.

Telling anyone how she feels seems hard. Except for Birdie during their evening walks with Nell’s dog Sammy. They become friends, but Nell senses Birdie is hiding secrets. Secrets like Nell’s, that affect their friendship but start bringing the two families together. Birdie helps Nell navigate her secrets, and work out how to face things. They’re on the cusp of high school, and everything is changing.

I felt for Nell as she navigated these difficulties, caught between loyalty to the Panthers and Eden, wanting to try something new and not knowing if telling everyone about Birdie was the right thing to do. She’s twelve and trying to navigate ethical and moral dilemmas that adults may struggle with. Things she feels she needs help with, but also needs to learn to deal with them on her own. The Secret Keeper is powerful and quiet at the same time, exploring emotions like grief and betrayal, and feeling lost when you try to explain things, yet nobody wants to hear you out. And I completely understood her struggle with how to say things. It can all make sense in your head, but getting it out verbally can be hard.

It’s a delicate and gentle story about growing up, and facing choices you never thought you’d have to face. About family and friendship, making new friends and uncovering secrets that they might never have wanted anyone to find out, and it would have been interesting to know more about Bridie’s past, because she was a fascinating character and I wanted to get to know her more. She needed her privacy, as did all the girls. Nell needed time to work through her things before talking to people, and I felt this was a good message to send. Sometimes, it’s hard to tell people things immediately. Needing time to process how you feel, as I got the sense Nell had to, can be an important step in knowing how to approach things. Whilst we should feel like we can tell our friends things, people should be allowed to work through how they want to tell people. Yes, there are consequences to keeping secrets as Nell found out. Allowing her to be flawed worked well to show that what she went through can happen to anyone at any time.  

It captures all the emotions of new friendship, the end of school, and wondering how to tackle things that might seem tricky at first. And, it gathers together how people can feel about keeping secrets, making sure people are comfortable talking, or knowing when to tell people things, or how. Sometimes, the how is the hardest. This novel shows this well and genuinely. It’s a delicately written book that touches on tough things without getting too heavy-handed. The Secret Keeper is a fabulous book about growing up and finding yourself caught up in challenges that take guts to face up to. That help you find out more about yourself. It’s a middle grade story that I feel is for anyone aged ten and over who has grappled with secrets and wanting to tell people, but not knowing how. It’s a universal experience that can affect everyone differently. It’s a powerful examination of friendship too, and how we bring new people into our lives.

A fantastic book filled with feeling that was a good read.