The Year of Secret Assignments

Author: Jaclyn Moriarty

Copyright: 2005

Number of Pages: 352

Rating: 9 out of 10

Why I Picked This Up: Well, after reading The Murder of Bindy Mackenzie (Hopefully I will do a review on that later!) , I really wanted to read another book by Jaclyn Moriatry. Luckily they had this book in my library, so I snatched this up as quick as possible!

It was a class assignment that seemed harmless enough. Write a few letters to pen pals at another school and get it over with for an easy A. If only it were that simple than there would not be a story. Lucky for us as readers, these "harmless" assignments led to much more. Pranking. Romance. Secrets. Evil. Revenge. All of these words can describe what goes on in The Year of Secret Assignments. The book revolves around three main characters, Lydia, Cass, and Emily. Although the girls are complete opposites, they have been best friends since they were young. Lydia is sarcastic and the darker one out of the three and when she grows up she wants to be a writer. Cass is shy and timid and has a secret talent of singing. Emily is young lawyer-to-be and is feisty and independent. At first, Lydia and Emily despise their pen pals, but as the book goes on, they end up meeting and dating their pen pals! Cass's pen pal is another story. His name is Matthew Dunlop and treats Cass like dirt. Cass tried to keep her interactions with him quiet, but her good friends can tell when something is wrong. What started as simple letter exchange ends up being an all-out-war between two high schools complete with pranks and good old fashioned revenge. Read this book and you won't be able to put it down!

The Year of Secret Assignments is a fun, intriguing read. It has a little bit of everything in it and will appeal to many readers. Personally, one of my favorite things about the book was the way it was styled. The entire book was written through letters, diaries, and transcripts, no regular dialogue involved. Since the story kept switching to different characters there was no way to get bored. Each character had a distinct voice that was well-displayed. Kudos to Ms Moriarty, The Year of Secret Assignments is a must-read!