THE CASSETTE TAPE SECRET explores sensitive subjects such as OCD, social anxiety, divorce, and tangled community history with a light touch. Full of history, humor, and heart, readers can solve the mystery alongside characters who are finding their place in a world that doesn't easily understand them.When eleven-year-old Alex discovers a decades-old secret buried in his front yard, propelling him into the center of a local mystery, he's forced out of the safe routine he built to accommodate his OCD and challenged to solve the mystery, embrace a new friendship, and explore the complicated history of his community. Thirteen-year-old Alex Bennett is used to being overlooked by his classmates. From being bullied due to his OCD, he's learned that being invisible is the safest option. So he's unprepared when the new girl, Ida May, requests to partner with him on a school project. And he is even more unprepared when the project she wants to work on reveals a mysterious message left on a cassette tape-one that leads the pair to a box buried in Alex's front yard. Soon, Alex finds himself knee-deep in a mystery he wanted no part of. Urged on by his therapist and Ida May, he's forced to step out of his carefully created comfort zone to untangle the complicated history he and Ida May have uncovered. But the more time Alex spends with Ida May, the more he wonders if the friendship growing between them is real or if she'll leave as soon as the mystery is solved. As he and Ida May close in on the answers they've been searching for, Alex begins to understand that not everything is as it seems on the surface, and that maybe he doesn't have to hide his OCD-or himself-from the world. Written by a lifelong educator, The Cassette Tape Secret addresses sensitive subjects with a light touch as middle-grade readers solve a mystery alongside characters who are finding their place in a world that might not easily understand them. AUTHOR: Danielle Herzog is a lifelong educator who has been a classroom teacher, school counselor, and assistant principal. She is passionate about giving a voice to and advocating for those who deserve to be heard. Additionally, she is a freelance writer whose work has been featured in The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, The Huffington Post, AOL, What to Expect, and Nickelodeon's NickMom, as well as other national and local publications. When she actually has a moment of free time, she enjoys being with her husband, two children, and super-clingy dog that she secretly talks to like it's a human.
