The Secret Society is eerily possible and may be scarier to moms than to their kids. But I would still highly recommend it for kids and adults. It poses some great launching pads for ‘what if’ kinds of questions. Not to scare, but to make you think, at least on an individual level.

I personally couldn’t put it down. And I don’t think my son will let me go very long between chapters when we dive into it also!

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About the Book

Book: The Underground Book Readers: The Secret Society

Author: Terry Overton

Genre: Upper Middle Grade, Pre-Teen, Teen, YA Christian Fiction Dystopian

Release date: December 15, 2022

In a world without books, schools, churches, and parents, how can teens and pre-teens find each other and work to bring back a world like the world before? Ever watchful, this group of friends meet in an underground cavern in the mountains of Virginia. Rumors of spies, enemy soldiers, and the possibility of finding their parents, keep these friends searching to make a better life for everyone.

In Book 1, The Secret Society, the original four members of the group discover others who, like them, have lost their parents and older siblings. These friends bond together and form a strong new family. Together, they discover new documents, clues, and tools to assist in their adventures. In the hope of someday finding others who can help establish a new settlement, they study, plan, and make discoveries that will propel them forward in their journey. Are others hiding from the World Force Soldiers? They are determined to find the answer.

Click here to get your copy!

My Review

This book hooked me quickly. I couldn’t put it down. As a mom, it’s terrifyingly believable. But it was also a lot of fun.

I wanted to pre-read it before sharing it with my 9 year old because it’s for 9-18 year olds, and that’s a pretty wide span.
I am comfortable sharing it when we finish what we’re currently reading.

The concept of all the parents and older siblings being dead or taken away, leaving the younger set alone in their homes with a central food station offering one meal per day will be the only issue we might struggle with. But a great launch pad for discussion.

There are a couple of ‘scary’ moments but they aren’t really scary and literally only last a moment, so no worries there. A guard in the wrong spot, a stranger appears where he shouldn’t… Stuff like that.

Overall, I think the story offers encouragement of kids being resilient and seeds of faith and life skills planted early being extremely valuable assets. Both concepts are as good for parents to pay attention to as the entertainment value of the book is for kids.

I greatly appreciate the opportunity to be on the launch team for this book and can’t wait for book 2!

I received a copy of the book from Celebrate Lit and chose to review it here. All thoughts are my own.

About the Author

Terry Overton obtained her Ph.D. in Psychology and her Ed. D. in special education. She taught in public schools and was a school psychologist and a professor before retiring in 2016. She began her second “career” after retirement writing Christian fiction books and devotionals. She hopes to share the Christian worldview through her writing and touch the lives of her readers. Her novels, middle grade readers, and picture books seek to entertain readers through the travel experiences and characters included in her books. Her books have earned Bookfest Awards, Firebird Award Winner, American Writing Award Gold, International Finalist Book Award, Reader Views Awards, and Reader’s Favorite Awards. She currently resides in Laguna Vista, Texas, near the Texas-Mexico border. She enjoys Biblical history and general Bible studies, writing, and enjoying family and friends. She has seven grandchildren and one great granddaughter.

More from Terry

This book came from my concern about children and teens not being able to read many of the classic books we cherish.  My concern that many children and teens do not value reading, our faith, and our freedoms, is the reason for the book being a dystopian story. In this new world, there are no books, school, or churches.

Here is the intro:

The world was not ready for what happened. And in the mountains and valleys of Virginia, a group of young friends wondered what to do in this different world. Their parents and older siblings were taken away, or “disappeared,” and have not been seen since that fateful day. Schools were destroyed, churches burned, and books banned. There was no fuel or electricity available for the anyone. Cars and other vehicles no longer worked and were found abandoned beside the roads rusting and in disrepair. Only the World Force military had fuel and vehicles.

The discovery of books, documents, tools, clues, and other teens hiding in the countryside, brought hope to group of friends who met daily deep in the cavern. Follow their journey of hope and adventure through the series: The Underground Book Readers.

And what do teens do when their world has changed and there are no parents or other friendly adults? They find each other, find forbidden books such as Huckleberry Finn and the Bible, hide in a cavern, read, study, and plan for a better world.