Family Secrets

The prolific Corcoran ( Stay Tuned ; The Potato Kid ) tackles adoption in her latest work. When 14-year-old Tracy moves with her family to a small Massachusetts town, she receives shocking news: the people she knows as Mom and Dad are not her biological parents. (The couple recently learned that Tracy's birth mother has died, thereby releasing them from the legal agreement that prohibited disclosing their secret.) Stunned, the girl worries that her relationship with her three siblings will be altered but is soon reassured that their ties are stronger than she realized. Pivotal in the events here is David, a 17-year-old neighbor who lost his family in a boating accident and has since put his life on hold. Tracy, however, shines the brightest as a compassionate yet very real teenager who is thoroughly deserving and appreciative of the love bestowed upon her. The climax involving a pyromaniac is somewhat predictable, but the upbeat resolution is suitably gratifying. Ages 8-12. (Mar.)