The Underwood Tapes

Gr 9 Up–Escaping her grief, 18-year-old Grace runs away to her late mother’s Florida hometown to mindlessly digitize cassette tapes at Hermitage’s local Historical Society. What’s startling is that Grace realizes she can directly communicate with Jake Underwood, the teen who originally recorded the tapes in the early 1990s. She’s soon even more disturbed to find no one in this small town seems to remember Jake. Surrounded by unfamiliar, possibly untrustworthy, locals and extended family, Grace begins to work with Jake to uncover what secrets Hermitage is hiding. DeWitt delivers a disquieting tale of secrets filled with a legacy of lies that burdens each generation in Hermitage. The question of morality while one faces mortality is a running theme as Grace uncovers the mystery and connection surrounding the Underwood boys’ disappearances in the 1970s and 1990s. Grace and Jake are both suffering the loss of a parent which is made all too real as both accurately describe the solitude and grieving process. The dirty town secret leads to Grace and Jake building a friendship that helps them confront their guilt and sorrow while discovering true connection. Though an explanation for how the tapes transcend time is left up to readers, they will be moved to root for Grace even through the somber, unsatisfying ending. Grace and Jake read seemingly white while there is some diversity in the extended cast.