Sandra Kendall

Secrets and Lies at Grisley High Sandra Kendall

Ezekiel Clay is too young and too puny to fight back. His alcoholic father takes out his hatred for his family and the wrath of his spirits on Ezekiel and his mother. Nestled deep into the woods of a rural town, Ezekiel and his mentally unstable mother are able to keep most of their lives a secret until a school dance invitation goes wrong and now Carmen Diego, the girl of Ezekiel's dreams is a witness to his hell. Although Ezekiel vacillates between love and scorn for his father and even has visions of killing him, he finds himself transitioning into the man he loathes and he takes it all out on Carmen and his mother. After being sent away, Carmen finds herself picking up the pieces of what Ezekiel left behind, pieces that lead to the blemishing of her good-girl image. Sarah Cutter, Carmen's arch nemesis makes it a point to cause Carmen grief for what she has done to Ezekiel and for an innocent comment Carmen made when she and Sarah were in the third grade - something Carmen doesn't even remember. In Carmen's quest to make sense of things and to establish a normal relationship, Sarah and Carmen find themselves competing for the same guy, Kolby Star. Neither Carmen nor Sarah desired Kolby out of love or even attraction but out of rivalry for Sarah and an Ezekiel replacement for Carmen. Carmen's friend Jazzi tries to help restore a moral compass to the chaos, but she exasperates the situation even more in her attempts to keep secrets of her own.