What Are You Hiding, Tory?

Middle Grade/Tween Health Issues, Friendship

Tory is an average sixth grader -- with a big secret. Tory and her best friend Kelly are starting a new school year full of exciting adventures … Tory is going to be allowed to babysit, there’s a school dance coming up and there are some really cute boys in the sixth grade class! It’s going to be a great year! But something is on Tory’s mind. On the first day of school Tory’s teacher asks the students to introduce themselves and tell one thing about themselves to the rest of the class. Tory doesn’t know what to say, because the only thing that comes to Tory’s mind is the one thing she wants to keep to herself. Tory tries hard to keep her secret but a chain of events including a slumber party and a hospital stay make this impossible.

Eleven-year-old Tory has a life-threatening illness called cystic fibrosis.

When a classmate of Tory’s exposes her secret at the Halloween slumber party, Tory and her friends learn about real friendship when the rest of the sixth grade doesn’t treat her differently after all, and the cute boy who asked her to the winter dance still wants to be her date, despite seeing the reality of cystic fibrosis as Tory endures a coughing spell right in front of him. What Are You Hiding, Tory? is a story about a girl with a secret who learns that the real secret is that she is really just like everyone else.