Secrets are both a major motif and a framing device in the narrative. Analyze the overall significance of secrets to the novel.

• In what ways do secrets appear in the novel?
• Are secrets positive or negative in the novel?
• In what instances does keeping secrets help or harm the characters?
• How does the author use secrets as a world-building technique to heighten immersion and increase reader engagement?
• How does the construction of the Narrator support the novel’s theme of Keeping and Sharing Secrets?

Teaching Suggestion: Students may be prompted to return to the text for specific examples or evidence to bolster their analysis. This discussion can also be expanded to connect to themes in the novel such as Personal Differences or Balance; students might be prompted to examine both the role secrets play in strengthening the bond between Cass and Max-Ernest and also how secrets separate the two children from their ordinary worlds. Students might consider how secrets/the Secret push Cass and Max-Ernest to confront challenges in the Secret world and grow as characters.