The Secrets We Bury

January 15, 2018
Dylan is about to carry out the "biggest running-away-from-home plan ever": he's going to hike the Appalachian Trail.The white teen will be 18 in six months, and by the time he completes the hike from Georgia to Maine, he'll be an adult who can live on his own terms and avoid being sent to a special school. The trail--all 2,190 miles of it--will be a safe place to hide until then. Along the way Dylan crosses paths with a widower and Appalachian Trail veteran called Rain Man and a lone young woman called Ghost. Both are enigmas to Dylan: why is the white older man giving away all of his wife's hiking gear, and why does white girl Ghost bury notes off-trail along the way? Dylan feels responsible for his accountant father's fatal heart attack, and he sees his chance to atone if he can save Rain Man and Ghost from their respective griefs. Dylan, who experiences sensory dysfunction and has trouble paying attention and behaving appropriately in school and difficulty understanding facial expressions and emotions, recalls his supportive father in flashbacks throughout his hike as he learns to face the fact that he may have to go home, whether he's ready or not.A sensitive, funny, and sometimes awkwardly romantic story of survival and self-awareness. (Fiction. 14-18)

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February 1, 2018

Gr 9 Up-Seventeen-year-old Dylan Taggart tells people that he has issues. But he doesn't think he needs to be in a school for the psychologically challenged, as his mother and the school board believe. His father, one of the two people who understood him, died of a heart attack a year earlier. The other, his cousin Emily, has little official influence. Since Dylan's 18th birthday is just six months away, he decides to hike the entire Appalachian Trail. Alone. It doesn't matter that he's never hiked before or even been interested in the outdoors. He just wants to go off the grid until he's old enough to make his own decisions. The only person he confides in is Emily, and she's against it. But he persuades her to help him choose gear and supplies. The night before he sets off, he meets some other, more experienced, hikers at the staging area. There is a trio of slightly older guys, and an older man called "Rain Man," whom everyone seems to know. He also meets a girl around his own age, whose trail name is "Ghost." The teen hikes alone, but encounters Ghost quite often, and is intrigued by her and Rain Man. The climax of the story is dramatic yet believable. Hiking the Appalachian trail might be an extreme way to prove his independence, yet he learns that compromise is fundamental to being a functional human being, something that might resonate with teens. VERDICT This insightful, touching story is a strong purchase for libraries that serve young adults.-Marlyn Beebe, Long Beach Public Library, CA

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2018
Grades 9-12 In order to escape his family, Dylan Taggart has decided to hike the Appalachian Trailall 2,190 miles of it. By his calculations, by the time he's done, he'll be 18 and be able to make his own decisions about his future, and they won't involve the school for psychologically challenged students that his mother has chosen. Dylan quickly learns that he's not prepared enough for this hike, and is constantly saved by a fellow teen hiker everyone calls the Ghost. As bad weather closes in, the two realize they need each other to be saved, on more than just the trail. Ramey captures the beauty of the Appalachian Trail, a setting that reflects Dylan's own struggles. The romance brews slowly, with witty banter between Dylan and the Ghost that eventually allows them to open up to each other. Dylan's inability to understand the emotions of others feels realistic, and many teens will find his situation relatable. A gripping novel that will tug on readers' heartstrings until the very end.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)