The Secret Book Club by Ann M. Martin

before moving on.”
    â€œI wonder how many people stayed here altogether,” said Olivia thoughtfully. “I mean, over the years.”
    Mrs. Angrim shook her head. “I don’t know. But it could have been quite a few. There were probably entire families in here from time to time.”
    â€œFamilies!” cried Ruby. “You mean there were kids? Kid slaves?”
    â€œAbsolutely,” said Min.
    â€œSlave owners believed that they owned any children their slaves gave birth to as well as the slaves themselves,” added Mrs. Angrim.
    Ruby didn’t reply.
    From a corner of the room, Flora heard Nikki mutter, “ Owning people.”
    â€œImagine anyone having to hide out just to survive,” said Flora after a moment. She turned to Min and Mrs. Angrim. “Before we came over here we were talking about Anne Frank and her family and how they hid in the Secret Annex.”
    â€œHow did you get from Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry to that subject?” asked Min.
    â€œWe were wondering whether the Logans — in the book —” Olivia added for Mrs. Angrim’s benefit,“should have left the trouble in the South and moved north. And then we started talking about people who have to leave their homes, and about what happened to Jewish people who stayed in Amsterdam during World War Two.”
    â€œAh,” said Min.
    Nikki was digging into the earthen floor with the toe of her sneaker. “Think of all the lives that might have been saved because of this little room,” she said.
    â€œIt’s kind of exciting, I guess,” said Ruby, “but mostly … it must have been so scary.”
    Flora shivered.
    â€œI suppose,” said Min later, after Mrs. Angrim had closed the trapdoor to the basement and was leading the way through her house once again, “that this was a different sort of adventure than the ones the children had in The Saturdays .”
    â€œI’ll say,” replied Ruby. “Those kids lived in New York City and got to go to the circus and to an opera house and stuff.”
    â€œBut,” said Olivia, “today was really, really interesting.”
    â€œIt was thought,” Min went on, “that your visit here would make for an unusual adventure.”
    What an interesting choice of words, Flora said to herself. Aloud she said, “Thank you for showing us the room, Mrs. Angrim.”
    â€œYes, thank you,” said Nikki and Olivia and Ruby.
    The girls walked back down the path to Harmony Lane, leaving Min behind with Mrs. Angrim.
    â€œDid you guys hear what Min said just now?” asked Flora when Mrs. Angrim’s door was safely closed. “She said, ‘ It was thought that your visit here would make for an unusual adventure.’”
    â€œYeah?” said Ruby, who might just as well have said, “So?”
    â€œShe knows who set up the book club!” exclaimed Flora.
    â€œOf course she does,” said Olivia. “So do my parents and Nikki’s mom. We already figured that out. Min’s being very careful not to give away any clues about that person, including whether it’s a man or a woman. I’ll bet Gigi knows who it is, too. And if she knows, then Poppy does. I have a feeling Mr. Pennington knows, too. And probably a bunch of other people.”
    â€œBut what I think,” Flora continued, “is that Min is the secret person. That’s why she had to be so careful about what she said. And look, there she was at Mrs. Angrim’s house today.”
    â€œThat doesn’t prove anything,” said Nikki as the girls turned a corner. “Besides, if Min is the mystery person, how did she deliver the packages to Needle and Thread the first day? They were already there when you arrived at the store that morning.”
    â€œShe could have arranged for someone else to deliver them,” said Ruby. “To throw us off the track.”
    â€œOoh.