From the acclaimed author of Maybe He Just Likes You and Halfway Normal comes a βcompassionateβ¦touchingβ (Donna Gephart, award-winning author of The Paris Project) and powerful story of learning how to grow, change, and survive.
When twelve-year-old Zinnia Manningβs older brother Gabriel is diagnosed with a mental illness, the familyβs world is turned upside down. Mom and Dad want Zinny, her sixteen-year-old sister, Scarlett, and her eight-year-old brother, Aiden, to keep Gabrielβs condition βprivateββand to Zinny that sounds the same as βsecret.β Which means she canβt talk about it with her two best friends, who donβt understand why Zinny keeps pushing them away, turning everything into a joke.
It also means she canβt talk about it during Lunch Club, a group run by the school guidance counselor. How did Zinny get stuck in this weird club, anyway? She certainly doesnβt have anything in common with these kidsβand even if she did, sheβd never betray her familyβs secret.
The only good thing about school is science class, where cool teacher Ms. Molina has them doing experiments on crayfish. And when Zinny has the chance to attend a dream marine biology camp for the summer, she doesnβt know what to do. How can Zinny move forward when Gabrielβand, really, her whole familyβstill needs her help?