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    It's Not Like It's a Secret
    It's Not Like It's a Secret
    It's Not Like It's a Secret
    Audiobook10 hours

    It's Not Like It's a Secret

    Written by Misa Sugiura

    Narrated by Emily Woo Zeller

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    ""Well-paced, brimming with drama, and utterly vital.""—Kirkus (starred review)

    This charming and bittersweet coming-of-age story featuring two girls of color falling in love is part To All the Boys I've Loved Before and part Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda. Winner of the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature!

    Sixteen-year-old Sana Kiyohara has too many secrets. Some are small, like how it bothers her when her friends don’t invite her to parties. Some are big, like the fact that her father may be having an affair. And then there’s the one that she can barely even admit to herself—the one about how she might have a crush on her best friend.

    When Sana and her family move to California, she begins to wonder if it’s finally time for some honesty, especially after she meets Jamie Ramirez. Jamie is beautiful and smart and unlike anyone Sana’s ever known. There are just a few problems: Sana's new friends don't trust Jamie's crowd; Jamie's friends clearly don't want her around anyway; and a sweet guy named Caleb seems to have more-than-friendly feelings for her. Meanwhile, her dad’s affair is becoming too obvious to ignore.

    Sana always figured that the hardest thing would be to tell people that she wants to date a girl, but as she quickly learns, telling the truth is easy…what comes after it, though, is a whole lot more complicated.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateMay 9, 2017
    ISBN9780062682765
    Author

    Misa Sugiura

    Misa Sugiura’s ancestors include a poet, a priestess, a samurai, and a stowaway. Her first novel, It’s Not Like It’s a Secret, was the winner of the Asian/Pacific American Award for YA Literature. Her second novel, This Time Will Be Different, was the HarperCollins Children's Books Lead Read. Misa lives under a giant oak tree in Silicon Valley with her husband, two sons, and three cats. Visit her online at www.misasugiura.com.

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    Reviews for It's Not Like It's a Secret

    4/5

    144 ratings6 reviews

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    • 4/5
      I really liked the audiobook, but if Sona was real I wouldn't like her. Too closed up haha.
    • 5/5
      Just spectacular!! Enjoyed every bit of Sana's internal and external journey..
    • 5/5
      So cute xx. I loved all of this book and need the physical copy
    • 5/5
      What a wonderful YA romance that really makes you think about the human experience.
    • 5/5
      This book has a lot of bad reviews on Goodreads, and I think it's because if you're looking for a cute romance book, this maybe isn't it. Romance isn't the main main genre happening here. But I do think it's a fantastic look at rasict biases and family conflicts in a Japanese-American household, and the narrator does a really good job at bringing the story to life.
    • 5/5
      It's Not Like It's a Secret is a thoroughly enjoyable teen romance. Sixteen year old Sana and her family move from Wisconsin, where she was one of a handful of Asian students at school, to California where she is one of many. In Wisconsin she had a crush on her best friend, Trisha, who is totally straight and her crush is hopeless.In California she meets Jamie who is a clerk in a store and it's crush at first sight. Jamie is Latino. Author Misa Sugiura explores the difference in cultures and stereotypical perceptions such as Latinos are lazy and Asians are smart and hardworking. Sana's mother, a Japanese born American, also shares these opinions of Latinos, thus making it hard for Sana and Jamie to become friends, let alone girlfriends. Sana's mother is stoic, showing gamen (enduring the seemingly unbearable with patience and dignity) and there are things in her life that require such strength.Of course, like any other romance, there is girl gets girl, girl loses girl and girl gets girl back again. However this version was a joy to read. I highly recommend it.