Secrets (Fingerprints Series #4)

Children's Literature

Rae Voight has the ability to hear thoughts by touching people's fingerprints. Until she figured this out, she spent time in a mental hospital thinking she was going insane, and the return to suburban life hasn't been easy. Thankfully, Anthony Fascinelli is transferring to Sanderson Prep this year, one of the few friends who remained loyal to Rae through her troubles. The other friend, Yana, is helping Rae uncover the secret of Rae's dead mother's past. All this time, though, someone is watching Rae, someone just as interested in her mother as she is. Rae and Yana are kidnapped and taken to a Motel 6 near the end of the book, but the reader never finds out who her captor is or why she is being kept there. The disjointed plot moves slowly, and a reader unfamiliar with the series may have a hard time understanding why each character is significant, or not. The identity of Rae's stalker is never revealed, nor are the reasons she is still friends with Anthony, Yana, and her on-again, off-again boyfriend Marcus Salkow. There is some suspense and mystery to the story, but the pacing of the story, as well as the assumption that the reader has been through the first three books in the series, detract from the excitement. One in the "Fingerprints 4" series. 2001, Avon Books/HarperCollins, $4.99. Ages 14 up. Reviewer: Carlie Kraft AGES: 14 15 16 17 18