l to r: Michael Klassen-Kay and Edward Kay (Credit: Liliana Reyes)

With honest depictions of bullying, sexual assault, grooming, power and politics, violence, and murder, Our Little Secret, the co-written debut from writers Edward Kay and Mikhael Klassen-Kay is a frank, few-holds-barred thriller that presses against the boundaries of young adult fiction.

Set in an unnamed city (which bears a undeniable resemblance to Toronto, down to the ravines), Our Little Secret begins with the discovery of a body at Ridgeview Alternative School, “destination of choice for people who didn’t fit in anywhere else, a sanctuary for those who were queer, on the spectrum, or had anxiety issues, dressed differently, wore their hair differently, were all of the above or barely any of it.” After a short investigation, police confirm that English teacher Mr. Lowell died as a result of autoerotic asphyxiation in the school’s greenhouse.

Three students, however, know that this isn’t what happened. They’re the ones who killed him.

Our Little Secret is written in their distinct first-person voices. Jordan is an overachiever who plans to become a civil rights lawyer, “to put bullies in their place.” Nick is a music student and budding composer, who is bound for Juilliard. Chloe, who arrives mid-semester, is a gifted actress with Hollywood dreams. All three are students in Lowell’s senior year comparative literature class, which seems unduly focused on examining sexual relationships, virginity, and the arbitrary meaninglessness of Western moral systems. (It’s difficult to say who finds Lowell’s lectures creepier: the characters, or the reader.)

Clifford “call me Cliff” Lowell has a whispered reputation as a predator, which Jordan experiences first-hand. The teacher ogles, then makes veiled advances, a progression that only stops when Jordan begins to transition. Lowell is disappointed when Jordan arrives at school with a short haircut. “If I’d thought it was any of his business,” says Jordan, “I’d have told him the truth: that I cut it short because I had a serious case of gender dysphoria, and since they don’t sell a DIY mastectomy kit at the drug store, I started with the first thing that I could cut off without medical complications.” 

Chloe, however, doesn’t escape Lowell’s predation, setting the stage for murder. But the story is only halfway done.

Our Little Secret is a suspenseful thriller rooted in the realities of contemporary teenage life, with plenty of twists and a keen sense of morality that will have readers cheering (perhaps quietly) for the protagonists to get away with their crime. While intended for young readers, the novel will appeal to most adult thriller readers as well.