Book Report: The Year of Secret Assignments

October 4th, 2008

Summary

A grade 10 English assignment forces two rival schools to become pen-pals to celebrate “the Joy of the Envelope”. When “Snobby” Ashbury Academy students, Lydia, Emily and Cassie wrote letters to “low-life” Brookfield High guys, Matthew, Charlie and Sebastian, things didn't turn out as they expected. They’re bonding soon leads to abusive letters, crazy happenings, and secret missions, lock picking, and mistaken identities. Things were going pretty well; at least until someone or a group of people decided to vandalise Brookfield over night…this means WAR!

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Could the main character exist in real life?

Yes, the main characters could exist in real life. Lydia, Emily, and Cassie may be real because they are all just grade 10 students featured in the book. They go to school, do homework, have problems, and their lives are pretty much the same as an average 10th grader. They talk and think like people in real life. They also don't have any “superpowers”. I suppose the thing about them that’s most different from real life is how they know how to pick locks, and can do all these mischievous things like setting off the smoke-alarm sprinkler system without being caught. If they exist in real life, I think that they would be the type of people who are fun to hang out with but at times get in trouble. They are laid-back, funny and are always on some kind of little adventure.

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Letter to the author

Dear Jaclyn Moriarty,

I really enjoyed reading your book, “The Year of Secret Assignments”. I think it’s very cool that the whole story made up of notes, notebook entries, diary entries, transcripts, mail and all kinds of interesting things. Its layout really helped captivate my attention.

One of the main things I’ve learned from reading “The Year of Secret Assignments” is to not judge people before you get to know them. Ashbury Academy students think of all Brookfield High students as “uncivilized” and “dangerous”. While Brookfield High students think of all Ashbury Academy students as “snobby”. However when they actually get to know each other as pen pals, they were proven wrong.

Another thing that I’ve learned is that if I’m ever threatened or being abused in any way, I should tell people I trust right away. In this case, Cassie, who didn't tell anyone, got hurt emotionally by” Matthew Dunlop”. It wasn't until her friends found out that she got help.
In this story, Paul Wilson accused and acted as a witness that Lydia, Emily and Cassie are the ones who are responsible for vandalising Brookfield High. Although Lydia, Emily and Cassie had nothing to do with vandalising, the teachers and other adults of authority believed what Paul Wilson says, because he has a way of words, making everything he says sound true. This situation is about how it can be unfair that people who are accused are “guilty until proven innocent”.

Overall, I’m glad that I picked your book off the book shelf. It kept me amused and turning pages, yet I got experience from those characters in the books. I learned from their mistakes and their accomplishments.


Sincerely,

Irene Lai

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INTERVIEW.


He’s a former Brookfield student and was the form 10 captain as well as star of the school drama. He is…Paul Wilson!

Q: Paul, for you letter exchanges with Ashbury student, Cassie Aganovic, why did you use a pen name?
A: About the pen name, I felt like creating a new identity to make a boring school assignment more fun. At first I only intended to threaten her so she would stop writing letters and end our communication so I won’t have to “celebrate” the “Joy of the Envelope” or whatever it’s called but I didn't want to give out my real name. Later on, I realized that she’s hopeless and she would just keep writing to me anyway so I just played along. I know this might sound pretty ruthless, but at the time, it occurred to be a great idea.

Q: How did you come up with the pen name “Matthew Dunlop”?
A: Actually, it’s quite random how I came up with that name. I was just thinking of my annoying 5 year old neighbour, Matthew, who keeps following me and asking me a lot of lame questions. Also, I was staring at the back of the shirt of this guy who sits in front on me in my English class which had the word “Dunlop” written on it.

Q: I have heard you trashed the Ashbury High and put the blame on three innocent Ashbury girls. Would you like to comment?
A: Hmm, although I did get caught in the end, it was worthwhile. Those snobby private school losers deserved it.

Q: Why would you think Ashbury students are losers?
A: They are! I used to have a girlfriend from there. I trusted her and everything but then one day I caught her with another guy. She told me I misunderstood and said she can’t believe I could think such a thing. So I went and apologized and everything because I was so sorry that I blamed her for cheating on me. But then just a week later I caught her with the same guy again. So I went right up to her and demanded an explanation. Guess what she said? She said: “Sorry, Paul. I just don’t have the feelings for you anymore” and just dumped me like that. She even lied to me the first time I caught her and I even apologized for what I thought I was supposed to be sorry for when she’s the one who should be sorry.

Q: So trashing Ashbury High was your way of getting back at your Ex. Girlfriend?
A: Uhhh… no comment.

Q: Since you left Brookfield, are you adjusting well to your new school?
A: Yeah, yeah. Everything’s fine here. The teachers are great and it’s far from Ashbury High. I made lots of friends and they are very fun to be with, although I have to say I do miss my friends at Brookfield.

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Recommendation

I would definitely recommend “The Year of Secret Assignments” to other grade 8 students. This book was a very interesting read. For an instance, how many books can you find that is completely made up of letters, notes, mail, news bulletins, diary entries and all sorts of writing?. I didn't find many. Also, the madcap things the characters in this book got to do in this story (like all those secret missions) are probably what some students would fantasize of being able to do.

The main thing that’s negative about this novel is that since this story is told in three different perspectives, it was somewhat confusing and I sometimes had to flip back and read it over.

From reading this book, you will travel into its world. Meeting and getting to know the characters and learning with them throughout the story as you read on. This is the type of book that you simply can’t resist putting down.

I would rate “The Year of Secret Assignments” 9 out of 10!

★★★★★★★★★