Everyone has a secret. Now Secret is talking.Talon Alvarado has one goal: to be nothing like her mother who's blown it in about every way. But sometimes you focus so hard on what you don't want that you find yourself careening toward it. Bombarded with history, hurts, and secrets, Talon is struggling to be the person she yearns to be and to live a bigger life than girls like her are supposed to wish for. To climb out, she must dig for strength in the most unlikely place; the rubble of her bruised heart. The misty presence of Secret reveals its role in Talon's life, showing how the secrets we keep tell our stories. Chalk Houses is a gritty, achingly hopeful story about love being in the places you forgot to look, and about starting over.

Even at the end.