Essays by adult women writers explore their secret lives as teenagers: secret confessions about parental unhappiness and infidelity, mental illness in the family, alcoholism and threats to self-esteem.

From the beloved author of Because of Mr. Terupt comes the sequel to The Perfect Score, about a lovable group of students at Lake View Middle School and the rewards and challenges of seventh grade. These students are in for a year of secrets, discoveries, and kid power! GAVIN finally joins the football team—a dream come true!—but Coach Holmes refuses to play him for reasons that also threaten to tear Gavin's family apart. When RANDI attends an elite gymnastics camp, she uncovers a startling family connection. SCOTT starts researching an article for the school newspaper and stumbles right into a hornet's nest of lies. With his loser older brother, Brian, out of the house, TREVOR's life is loads better—until he realizes that only he can save Brian from getting into deep trouble. NATALIE's top goals: (1) find out why Mrs. Woods and Mrs. Magenta no longer speak to each other—a mission shared by all the kids—and (2) teach a certain someone an important life skill without anyone knowing. It's tough keeping secrets. And tougher still to deal with the fallout when secrets spill out.

From the beloved author of Because of Mr. Terupt and its sequels comes The Perfect Score, a new middle-grade school story with a very special cast of unforgettable characters who discover that getting the perfect score—both on the test and in life—is perhaps not so perfect after all. No one likes or wants to take the statewide assessment tests. Not the students in Mrs. Woods’s sixth-grade class. Not even Mrs. Woods. It’s not as if the kids don’t already have things to worry about. . . . Under pressure to be the top gymnast her mother expects her to be, RANDI starts to wonder what her destiny truly holds. Football-crazy GAVIN has always struggled with reading and feels as dumb as his high school–dropout father. TREVOR acts tough and mean, but as much as he hates school, he hates being home even more. SCOTT’s got a big brain and an even bigger heart, especially when it comes to his grandfather, but his good intentions always backfire in spectacular ways. NATALIE, know-it-all and aspiring lawyer, loves to follow the rules—only this year, she’s about to break them all. The whole school is in a frenzy with test time approaching—kids, teachers, the administration. Everyone is anxious. When one of the kids has a big idea for acing the tests, they’re all in. But things get ugly before they get better, and in the end, the real meaning of the perfect score surprises them all.

A GRIPPING PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF GONE. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "Immediately grabbed my interest and kept me turning the pages late into the night. This fast-paced thriller is full of twists and turns I didn't see coming." Sheila N. THE PERFECT FIANCÉ OR A MURDERER'S SON? It's him. Tom. I helped put his mom in prison for life. She killed his father. I recognize the sharp nose and flare to the nostrils. His thick eyebrows and defined cheekbones. But mostly it's the eyes. Sea green. THE CONCERNED MOTHER. But my daughter, Joni, keeps calling him Michael. And they're here at the lake house telling us they're getting married. SHE LOVES HIM. BUT I KNOW HE'S LYING. It must be him. But what do I say? Suddenly I'm thrust back fifteen years, looking through photos of a violent and bloody murder scene. I can't be 100% sure. We haven't been the perfect family. But we got through it together. I will do anything to protect us, to protect the life we've fought for. WHO DO YOU BELIEVE? A gripping psychological thriller ready to be devoured by fans of K.L. Slater, Patricia MacDonald, Teresa Driscoll, Lisa Jewell, Natalie Barelli, Shalini Boland, Alex Michaelides and Susanna Beard. READERS LOVE HER PERFECT SECRET: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "Brearton kept me guessing until the end. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would recommend it to a friend. Great for those who like fast-paced mystery thrillers." S.N. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "I loved this one . . . The characters were well rounded and the narrative felt believable. Gave me chills. Solid five." Morgan S. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "A captivating psychological thriller . . . It kept me guessing with a totally surprising ending. Well worth the read." Carole S. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "There are so many layers to this story . . . loved it." Aileen G. ⭐⭐⭐⭐ "A very good read . . . This book kept me guessing until the end." Barbara ALSO BY T.J. BREARTON THE NORTH COUNTRY SERIES Book 1: DARK WEB Book 2: DARK KILLS Book 3: GONE THE TITAN SERIES Book 1: HABIT Book 2: SURVIVORS Book 3: DAYBREAK Book 4: BLACK SOUL SPECIAL AGENT TOM LANGE Book 1: DEAD GONE Book 2: TRUTH OR DEAD Book 3: DEAD OR ALIVE STANDALONE NOVELS HER PERFECT SECRET HIGH WATER THE HUSBANDS WHEN HE VANISHED

Essays by adult women writers explore their secret lives as teenagers: secret confessions about parental unhappiness and infidelity, mental illness in the family, alcoholism and threats to self-esteem.

Return to Lake View Middle School in the third book of the PERFECT SCORE series from the beloved author of Because of Mr. Terupt. Eighth grade promises to be an unforgettable year of tears, laughter, surprises, and star power. GAVIN's days of football glory have arrived, but an accident on the home front upends his family. Ever enterprising, NATALIE anchors a morning news broadcast at school--where she's unafraid to tackle big issues. Being on the outs with his best friend sucks, but the more TREVOR tries to patch things up, the worse things get. Sidelined with a gymnastics injury, RANDI develops a bad attitude and worries that her mom's new boyfriend means changes she won't like. SCOTT discovers hidden talents . . . and becomes a secret weapon on and off the football field. It's the final year of middle school--a time to play hard, smart, and together!

This book covers key concepts of cryptography, from encryption and digital signatures to cryptographic protocols, presenting techniques and protocols for key exchange, user ID, electronic elections and digital cash. Advanced topics include bit security of one-way functions and computationally perfect pseudorandom bit generators. Assuming no special background in mathematics, it includes chapter-ending exercises and the necessary algebra, number theory and probability theory in the appendix. This edition offers new material including a complete description of the AES, a section on cryptographic hash functions, new material on random oracle proofs, and a new section on public-key encryption schemes that are provably secure against adaptively-chosen-ciphertext attacks.