"A different kind of WWII home-front novel!"

The Secret Project Notebook

• Land of Enchantment YA Book Award nominee
• Finalist for New Mexico’s Best YA Book Award

Fritz (a.k.a. Franklin) is determined to find out what makes the small southwestern town where he now lives so secret that it's not on any map and no one is allowed to say or write its name. He and his seventh-grade classmate Kathy join forces as they attempt to decode phrases like "tickling the dragon's tail" and to discover where their scientist fathers go when they disappear for days at a time. But it's a summer prank rather than their snooping that causes the military police to view Fritz and his friends as a threat to wartime security.

Reviews

"Along with a colorful cast of friends that includes Kathy, a smart but emotional girl whose brother is fighting in Europe; Manny, a Spanish-American boy who knows the local traditions; and Jacob, a Jewish boy whose family escaped the Nazis, Fritz discovers a number of clues that he carefully records. . . . Eventually, the truth about the "Secret Project" is revealed as the kids experience a unique and controversial piece of American history . . . ."
—Children's Literature

"The Secret Project Notebook by Carolyn Reeder humorously and realistically weaves the history of the bomb project with the daily life of twelve-year-old Fritz, his family, and his friends. Of course, Fritz is interested in finding out what's really going on, and he keeps the information he and his friends collect in a secret notebook. He also gets into trouble. A prank he and some friends play on the mail censor goes a little too far, but that's nothing compared to what happens when he and a friend go horseback riding in a restricted area . . . . "
—Thereby Hangs a Tale

Click here to order The Secret Project Notebook.