The Secret Journal of Brett Colton by Kay Lynn Mangum

 
 808    821
Rating: ****
Genre: Realistic fiction, religious, Mormon literature
Series: No sequel, but there's a companion book containing two guest apperances.
     Kathy can't stand her brother Brett, even though he died when he was seventeen and she was two. Her family talks about him as if he were a touchdown scoring martyr. He stared in his school play and became the first sophmore to play quarterback for varsity. Now it's Kathy's sophmore year. She's forced to tutor Jason West, the second sophmore to play quarterback for varsity. In addition to being an obnoxious jock, Jason is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormon), which happens to be the church Brett investigated before his death.
     On Kathy's sixteenth birthday, she finds a journal Brett kept for her. As Kathy reads the entries between trying to raise her grade in theater class and sorting out her feelings for Jason, she can't help but grow closer to Brett.
     Mangum's characters are unique. Brett and Jason aren't your stereotypical dumb jocks, Kathy is more than a quiet, book-loving girl. Brett's entries tie in with and add drama to whatever Kathy happens to be doing at the moment.
     Though is one of those young adult books that can appeal to a wide age range. I first read it in fourth grade, but I can see adults enjoying it. Though set and published in Utah, The Secret Journal of Brett Colton is applicable to the lives of people everywhere.

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