The Boy Who Could See Secrets

Andi Cumbo-Floyd's The Boy Who Could See Secrets is a magical time-travel adventure for 10 year olds, told mostly by a boy's imaginary friend.

What happens

Jedidiah Wilson is twelve. He lives on a farm in a little mountain town where nothing ever happens, and he's anxious, clever and bored stiff. He also sees things other people can't. A ghost at an old mine. A dark shadow that follows the local reverend everywhere.

One afternoon Jed tastes change on the wind. He crashes his bike, breaks both arms and keeps running anyway, chasing a shadowy child into the woods. Past a big pin oak, the woods suddenly change. He's walked through time into a village of Black families with magical gifts, and a woman called Sharon sings his arms better.

Most of the story is told by Mavis. She's been Jed's imaginary friend since he was two, she's sixty-three, and she has plenty of opinions (and knees that ache). Nobody but Jed has ever been able to see her, until the villagers look her straight in the eye. That moment is lovely.

The village is under threat. A man from the 1820s called David Poke believes he owns the people there. So Jed and Mavis are sent on a quest through time to gather what's needed for a magic net, starting in Moscow. For a boy who has loved treasure hunts his whole life, it's a dream!

Mavis is great company, chatty and flustered and forever comparing things to TV shows. The book is also very direct about race. The villagers talk openly about slavery, and about how being white will help Jed and Mavis blend in on their travels. Mavis blushes with guilt when she realises she's never had to think about it. It's a thoughtful way in for a curious reader.

One thing to flag. Among the things Jed draws from his visions is a glimpse of a lynched woman's feet, mentioned in a single line. His arms snapping is described clearly too, and there's the odd "crap". A sensitive reader might want to talk that line through with you.

What to read next

If they'd like more time travel with a best friend and some clues to crack, try The Book That Proves Time Travel Happens. Ambrose and his best friend Tom start at a carnival fortune-teller's tent with an ancient book of signs, and end up in 1852, a dangerous year for children who aren't white.