History Literature / SecretsNotMeantToBeKept

* AuthorTract: Very much so. Just take a look at this page and count the tropes whose descriptions involve child sex abuse. (Hint: It would be easier to count the tropes whose descriptions do ''not'' involve sex abuse.) Of course, given the seriousness of the subject matter and how badly it was handled in RealLife at the time of this book (see [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Day-care_sex-abuse_hysteria this]] link on Wiki/TheOtherWiki for details), this is definitely a case of Administrivia/TropesAreNotBad.

* YouCanPanicNow: Downplayed. Despite arising from a now-discredited moral panic, the author does remind readers that Treehouse is not a typical preschool environment, and stresses that most preschools and daycare centers are actually rich, wonderful environments for kids. Additionally, Miklowitz omits the over-the-top allegations of [[HollywoodSatanism Satanic ritual abuse]] found in the real-life hysteria, making the villains conventional pedophiles.

* AdultFear:
** The premise of the book, that a preschool that has operated for nearly twenty years is secretly devoted to child molestation and child pornography.
** For Adri, despite being seventeen, realizing that she has been molested, that her sister is probably being molested, and having her concerns dismissed out of hand.

* HarmfulToMinors: The abuse Adri, and now Becky, experiences.

* SocietyMarchesOn: The hysteria that gave rise to this novel has since been mostly discredited. Additionally, it is hoped that RealLife parents and doctors are more aware of the possibility and warning signs of child molestation than the parents and doctors depicted in this story.

* AdultFear: The premise of the book, that a preschool that has operated for nearly twenty years is secretly devoted to child molestation and child pornography.

* AdultsAreUseless: Adri and Becky's parents are probably a textbook case of how NOT to respond to one's child's disclosures that they may have been molested. They dismiss Adri's angst, and later, disclosures, out of hand and treat her like a fractious child for trying to look out for her younger sister. Only when confronted with a tape-recorded admission from their three-year-old daughter regarding such abuse, do they recognize the true horror of the situation.

* AnAesop: For parents, that, although it's perfectly okay to live your adult lives, and preschool and daycare can be rich, wonderful environments for children, you can't simply hand your child off to somebody and not look back, naively assuming everything is okay. ''Especially'' when you have compelling evidence that things are most definitely ''NOT'' okay. As Adri and Becky's parents say at the end, it is important to listen to one's children and be there for them.

* AwfulTruth: Treehouse is actually a child sex abuse, child pornography ring.

* CheerfulChild: Adri was noted to be a cheerful child in the past. Becky is initially a one as well; her change in personality is one of the signs that something is terribly wrong.

* TheEighties: Evident from the then-current day-care sex abuse hysteria treated as fact in this story as well as references to the Soviet Union.

* ManlyTears: Adri and Becky's father, upon hearing Becky's revalation.

* NotNowKiddo: Adri's parents' response to her misgivings about Treehouse, and later her disclosures regarding the sexual abuse she suffered there.

* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: Becky and Bev. Adrienne is mostly known as Adri.

* ParentalObliviousness: PlayedForDrama, as Adri's parents dismiss her problems as well as her concerns about Becky out of hand.

* PlayingDoctor: Except this has nothing to do with innocent curiosity, and everything to do with adults using this as a pretext to molest kids.

* ShownTheirWork: Despite arising from a now-discredited hysteria, the novel accurately depicts warning signs of sexual abuse: genital inflammations, rectal bleeding, acting out sexually, nightmares, sudden detrimental changes in personality, destructive behavior, violent fantasies and ideation, an extreme aversion to a specific place, and regression to earlier behavior, including wetting oneself. Teenagers and adults who experienced sex abuse at an early age can have difficulties with intimacy and experience disturbing flashbacks. Moreover, the book appropriately portrays how to elicit statements from reluctant children: making the child comfortable, asking open-ended questions, not repeating oneself, and, above all, not reacting to what the child is telling you.[[note]]Ironically, in the hysteria that gave rise to this novel, law enforcement followed ''none'' of these guidelines in interrogating alleged sex abuse victims.[[/note]]

* ShownTheirWork: Despite arising from a now-discredited hysteria, the novel accurately depicts warning signs of sexual abuse: genital inflammations, rectal bleeding, acting out sexually, nightmares, sudden detrimental changes in personality, destructive behavior, violent fantasies and ideation, and regression to earlier behavior, including wetting oneself. Teenagers and adults who experienced sex abuse at an early age can have difficulties with intimacy and experience disturbing flashbacks. Moreover, the book appropriately portrays how to elicit statements from reluctant children: making the child comfortable, asking open-ended questions, not repeating oneself, and, above all, not reacting to what the child is telling you.[[note]]Ironically, in the hysteria that gave rise to this novel, law enforcement followed ''none'' of these guidelines in interrogating alleged sex abuse victims.[[/note]]

''Secrets Not Meant to be Kept'' is a 1987 young adult novel by Gloria D. Miklowitz. In this novel, seventeen-year-old Adrienne "Adri" Meyer is experiencing angst over problems being close to her boyfriend, Ryan O'Connor, as well as disturbing flashbacks, many of which involve a rabbit. Meanwhile, her sister, Becky, aged three, is undergoing a marked personality change: acting out destructively, having severe nightmares, and expressing gruesome ideas. Everything comes to a head when, with Ryan's help, Adri concludes that she was molested at Treehouse -- the same preschool/daycare center her sister is currently attending.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Adri's problems being close with her boyfriend, her flashbacks, he unease around Mrs. Plunkett, and Becky's nightmares all foreshadow the AwfulTruth.

* AuthorTract: Very much so. Just take a look at this page and count the tropes whose descriptions involve child sex abuse. (Hint: It would be easier to count the tropes whose descriptions do ''not'' involve sex abuse.) Of course, given the seriousness of the subject matter and how badly it was handled in RealLife at the time of this book (see [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Day-care_sex-abuse_hysteria this]] link on Wiki/TheOtherWiki for details), this is definitely a case of TropesAreNotBad.

* CassandraDidIt: Sort of. When Adri and Becky's mother come home and Adri has the tape-recorded conversation proving the sex abuse, the mother initially accuses Adri of putting those sick ideas into Becky's head. Having witnessed at least a portion of the actual tape-recorded interview, their father shuts this down '''hard'''.