In the book The Unquiet Past there is a girl named Tess. Tess lives at an orphanage and has lived there for 15 years. She is going to be 18 soon and will be given a clue about her family and will be free to live anywhere and do anything she wants. Tess is at her friend Billy's house at the beginning of the book when she notices her orphanage burning down. She quickly rushes towards the orphanage as she is not supposed to be at Billy's house. The orphanage burns down, but everyone escapes and no one is hurt. As a result Tess and the other girls that are close to the age of 18 are given the clue about their families. Tess receives an envelope which contains an address and a phone number. She calls the number but the operator tells her that the number is no longer in service, the address however belongs to a town near Montréal in Québec.
When Tess reaches Montréal she does some shopping, but as she is heading across the street she sees a man walking in the middle of the road, not looking where he is going. A car comes from behind him and hits him, but goes right though as he is a ghost. Nobody else looks at him and Tess realizes he is one of her visions. Since she can remember she has been having visions about the past and can hear, see and touch the people she is watching, however they continue on with their lives as they can not hear, see or feel her. She travels to the city Sainte-Suzanne and goes to the address in the envelope. She meets a boy there who is a few months older than her whose name is Jackson. He offers to help Tess on her mission finding her parents after she told him why she was there. He spoke fluent French and was good at English so she agreed n having him around and thought it would be very helpful.
They found out that the house was a mental hospital and that they would find more clues about Tess's past at the university. While they are going to the university, they decide to inquire about Tess's visions. They found out that there was a crazy scientist and he tried making people who thought they had mental problems better. He locked them in rooms that were the size of small closets and he also put them in dark coffins. Tess and Jackson's mothers were there. Tess's mother thought she was insane because she saw visions like Tess. At the end Tess decided to live with Jackson because they were very good friends now and it's not like she had a home back in Ontario.
This book is a Red Maple Award nominee. Grade 8 students in schools all over Ontario read these 10 books in 10 weeks and vote for their favourite. I will definitely be voting for this book as it is my favourite among all the books that I have read so far. All the other books had sad endings. but I really liked this books ending. I thought the idea was really unique and the name suits the book really well.
This book reminds me of the time I was lost in NYC. My dad was in India that time and I was there with my mom visiting my uncle. I was 6 that time, but I remember it very well. We were going to a mall to celebrate because my uncle had passed his test and so did his friend. While we were going my uncle decided to teach me his number and address because we were bored. When we were at the mall I wanted chocolate and I told my mom and she said we will go in a minute. I went by myself because she talking to my uncle and they were deciding where to have lunch. I had some money in my pocket and I bought it from one of the machines by myself. When I turned around they were not there. I started crying and then I remembered what my mom said "if you ever get lost, go to the nearest shop and ask to use the phone". I went to Claires and they called my uncle and they came very fast. The whole way home my mom was holding my hand so tight that I thought I would lose my blood circulation. Even today if we go to a place with a lot of people my mom will hold my hand and my dad will hold my brother's. I have told my mom many times that she does not need to hold it but she still does.
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As I read the story, I didn't feel like I was reading it but like it was real, just like Tess's visions. I could hear the characters and see them as well. It was like I was there while it happened. This usually happens when I read very interesting books. This happened while I was reading all the Red Maple books. Over all I really liked this book and would rate it 10/10. The book was inspirational and had a lot of interesting things.
I also read another book in this series which is called Shattered Glass. Just like in this book in the beginning the orphanage burns down, but in Shattered Glass we read how they woke up and how they felt in the building at that time. After Toni who is the narrator in that book receives her clue she goes off to find more about her past just like Tess. Overall I really like this series and will definitely read the other five books in the series Secrets.
