One summer can change everything... It's 1971, and Darlene's life is about to change as family mysteries are solved and the idealistic teen figures out what to do with her life. This is a coming-of-age story set against the backdrop of "peace, love, rock and roll," and the Vietnam War.
Brenda Chapman began her children's fiction career with Running Scared, the first in the Jennifer Bannon series. Hiding in Hawk's Creek was shortlisted for the CLA Book of the Year for Children. Where Trouble Leads and Trail of Secrets followed. Her first mystery for adults, In Winter's Grip, was published in 2010. She lives in Ottawa.
?One of the things Chapman portrays really well is Darlene?s trying to decide who or what to believe in.?
The plot of Second Chances crackles like summer lightning ... Chapman skillfully weaves together a story, sensual and taut, that is a slow burn from the very first image.
Chapman reveals her heroine's secret emotions and the circumstances of her family's turmoil through believable dialogue and interactions, confidently distilling the sizzling expectations and small disappointments of a girl just beginning to understand the complexity of personal relationships and the far-reaching effects of world events.
?Novelist Brenda Chapman skillfully manages the balance between Darlene?s intimate adolescent concerns and the confusing adult world that is infuriatingly out of reach. The teen?s tightrope walk between many competing demands seems entirely authentic.?