The Neighbor's Secret (2024)

by Diana Sussman

Series: A Maddie Mystery (1)

Members	Reviews	Popularity	Average rating	Conversations
10	3	1,850,691	(3)	None

all members

▾Members

Recently added by

Shookie, cherylgw, selsha, JenniferRobb, anwesharini, OpenedBooks, booksnmusic, EarlyReviewers, harborlanebooks

▾Tags

No tags

▾Lists

None

▾Will you like it?

▾Conversations (About links)

No current Talk conversations about this book.

▾Member reviews

date ▼ | votes

Showing 3 of 3

The Neighbors' Secret is a fast-moving middle-grade book about Maddie, who has a much too active imagination! She still gets laughed at over the Yeti incident, but this time, she is sure about what she saw, and it makes a much larger mystery and problem. Maddie's best friend doesn't believe her and is far more concerned with makeup and boys nowadays.
Diana Sussman's portrayal of preteen conduct and dialogue is spot on. She perfectly describes the empty feeling of being left out, even by one's best friend. The book flows nicely and is a quick read.
Thank you to NetGalley and Everimagine Books(Harbor Lane Books, LLC). I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book provided by Everimagine Books via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own. (

)

Shookie | May 8, 2024 |

This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.

At first glance, I assumed this book was geared towards younger children, judging by the cover. However, my 8-year-old showed no interest at all, themes are too mature for her (not into boys yet).

So, I decided to give it a try with my tween, (who loves Nancy Drew and The Babysitter's Club) and she grew increasingly frustrated and annoyed with it and stopped joining me for reading at about 30% mark.

The overuse of words throughout the book and Maddie, the MC, jumping to conclusions became tiresome quickly.

While I managed to finish it, I have to agree with my 12-year-old's assessment. Too much school drama, and superficial mystery. (

)

selsha | May 6, 2024 |

This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.

This is an engaging young adult/middle school mystery. The main character, Maddie, is very into spy stories. She even wants to do an oral presentation on Agent 355 for her history class and has her own theory on the identity of that agent. After a while, it seems Maddie is seeing spies even in her own neighborhood! Is she right? You'll have to read the book to find out.

There's a bit of middle school drama within the pages too. Maddie and her BFF of many years, Rachel, are maturing at different rates and starting to have different interests. Maddie also has a tendency to "jump to conclusions" in some instances and to take unwise actions in others.

There is mention of Maddie and Cooper liking to decode messages and cryptograms though we don't see them do it often in this book. Maddie and Annie do solve one that Maddie thought was Greek (I recognized the alphabet used and didn't think it was Greek.)

Disclosure: I was awarded a free copy of this book through LibraryThing's Early Reviewers Group. LTER asks for an honest review in return and reviewing books awarded does increase chances of winning in future months's lists. (

)

JenniferRobb | May 1, 2024 |

date ▼ | votes

Showing 3 of 3

▾Published reviews

no reviews | add a review

▾Other authors

» Add other authors

▾Series and work relationships

Belongs to Series

A Maddie Mystery (1)

▾Awards and Honors

view history

▾Common Knowledge

You must log in to edit Common Knowledge data.

For more help see the Common Knowledge help page.

Canonical title

The Neighbor's Secret

Original title

The Neighbor's Secret

Alternative titles

Original publication date

People/Characters

Important places

Cranbury, New Jersey, USA

Important events

Related movies

Epigraph

Dedication

“I dedicated this book to my wonderful family, to all girls who feel compelled to solve mysteries and puzzles, and to those who know that little people can do big things.”

First words

OMG! Heard about the Yeti!

Quotations

Last words

(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)

Disambiguation notice

Publisher's editors

Blurbers

Original language

English US

Canonical DDC/MDS

Canonical LCC

▾References

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English

None

▾Book descriptions

▾Library descriptions

No library descriptions found.

▾LibraryThing members' description

Book description

THE NEIGHBORS' SECRET is a 2023 Tessy Walden finalist!Maddie's life is a mess. Along with the usual hassles of eighth grade, her best friend Rachel has gone boy-crazy and seems drawn to a new crowd. To make matters worse, everyone's teasing Maddie for impulsively breaking into her neighbor's home when her imagination went wild thinking that she saw a mythical creature called a Yeti inside.

Then, the new neighbors pull into their driveway and Maddie thinks she sees a human hand push out the taillight of their car. Other strange events follow. Are they kidnappers? Spies? Maddie convinces Rachel to help investigate, hoping that working together will bolster their friendship. But that looks unlikely after both of them crush on the new neighbors' son Alex.

Maddie is in a no-win situation. If she proves the new neighbors are spies, Alex will hate her. If she finds out they're not spies and dates Alex, Rachel will hate her. But Maddie can't resist solving a mystery and soon finds herself on a collision course with her best friend, her first crush, and the dangerous world of espionage. Her entire world – and her life – is at risk.

Haiku summary