The Book of One Hundred Truths

"I imagined what it would be like if everyone had their own container of lies and once they filled it they wouldn't be able to lie anymore. My container was probably overflowing." Lies come easy to Thea, rolling off of her tongue as smooth as butter. She doesn't mean to lie . . . or at least she doesn't lie to be mean. You see, something happened to Thea not too long ago, something she swore never to tell anyone else about - and she learned that in order to keep something a secret, you sometimes have to lie. Every summer, Thea (short for Theodora Elizabeth) heads off to her grandmother's house and enjoys a few fairly quiet weeks at the beach. She's old enough to travel without her parents, but not without their reminders. This year, her mother presses a notebook into her daughter's hands and asks her to write down one hundred truths before her trip is over. Thea figures out that she has to take note of four or five truths a day. That doesn't sound too bad. She thinks about things on the plane trip, then on the ride from the airport to her grandma's house while her two aunts have a fairly typical argument, figuring she'll have plenty of time to fill up her notebook while spending lazy days on the Jersey Shore by herself. "Are you ready to face the crowd?" When Thea arrives at her grandparents' home, she is surprised to see a dozen relatives residing there. Her grandma, Nenna, is as bubbly as ever; her grandad, Grenda, is suffering from Alzheimer's, notably quieter and slower-moving than before. There are the two arguing aunts, Ellen and Celia, who appear to be keeping some sort of secret from the rest of the family. There's her other aunt and her baby, plus four more cousins, two teenage boys who are busy with summer jobs, and two younger cousins who want to hang out with Thea. She has to share the attic room with one of those little cousins, the bright seven-year-old Jocelyn. Naturally curious and compulsively tidy, her constant presence starts to stress out her put-upon baby-sitter, Thea. Jocelyn's own stress manifests itself in a skin rash called eczema. As the two girls spend more time together and try to figure out what their aunts are hiding, Thea begins to suspect that her cousin might be keeping a secret too. "Most people think there are only two kinds of lies: little white lies and all the others. But that isn't true. Lies come in a lot of different colors." According to Thea, there are also blue lies (those which completely obvious) and pink lies (exaggerative) and green lies (inventive) and more. But the color of lie doesn't reflect its size nor its weight. When the truth - rather, truths - come out, Thea realizes how much the lies were weighing her down. As she did with her previous books for young readers, Julie Schumacher has delivered a solid story for young readers. If you enjoyed THE BOOK OF ONE HUNDRED TRUTHS, make sure to pick up GRASS ANGEL and THE CHAIN LETTER. All of Schumacher's books resonate with kids, especial

Thea Grumman, almost thirteen years old, has taken to lying. She told her neighbor, for example, that she didn't skate because she had an artificial leg. (Not true.) She told the school counselor, Mr. Hamilton, that she couldn't participate in gym relay races because she's Episcopalian. (Maybe true, but certainly not relevant.) So when Thea heads off to stay with Grandma and Grandpa Grumman for a few weeks during the summer, Mom hands Thea a notebook in which she's to write 100 truths. Mom tells her, "'You never know what you might discover. You might learn something new...You might find out something new about who you are.'' Granda and Nenna Grumman's house is different this summer, however. It's packed with many grandchildren this time and Thea is not used to sharing. Moreover, she's expected to babysit, a job, she tells her grandparents and her aunts, she's not allowed to do. (Not true.) The relatives relent at first, but Thea can't help but notice she's left most days with her 7-year-old cousin, Jocelyn. Jocelyn is one of those irritating/touching children. She makes her own bed, reads like a pro, is far too precocious for her own good, and wears white gloves as much for their aesthetic appeal as for their use in covering her eczema. Jocelyn is sure "the aunts" are up to something and she coaxes, pleads, and begs Thea into helping her spy on them. Jocelyn is also fascinated by Thea's notebook, and the only way Thea can keep her cousin away from the book is by helping her spy. Over the course of Thea's three-week stay, Thea writes her 100 truths, develops a fondness and an empathy for her odd cousin, and comes to terms with what was behind the lies. (No spoilers here, but let me just say that it involves an accident those of us who live in the North most fear.) "The Book of One Hundred Truths" is a thought-provoking novel for the upper Middle Grade, or tween, reader. What impressed me most about this book is how its author, Julie Schumacher, portrays Thea, her narrator and protagonist. Thea is completely believable--her lies are so transparent, so troubling, yet completely motivated. Thea is an ordinary child to whom an ordinary, mundane accident occurs. She copes in the only way she knows how. Often, in Middle Grade or Young Adult fiction, the heroes are smart--smarter than their calendar age would suggest. Thea is a twelve year old and reacts like one. The Book of One Hundred Truths is best suited for the ten-to fourteen-year-old reader and is highly recommended.

Twelve-year-old Thea thinks she has everything she needs for her annual summer visit to her grandparents' home by the ocean; she's made this trip since she was six, so she knows what to expect. However, just before she boards the plane, her mom hands her one more thing --- a blue notebook. Her mom challenges Thea to write down one hundred truths over the next three weeks. This may not sound too difficult for most, but for Thea, it will be a struggle. About six months earlier, Thea started lying. The first lie almost made Thea sick, but it quickly got easier. She lies about anything and everything, to anybody. Her parents worry she's going through a phase, but Thea shrugs them off. Then her teacher suggests seeing a counselor at the school. But he doesn't seem to help. Thea's vacation starts out like the previous ones, and she listens to her two aunts argue all the way home from the airport. But she quickly learns that this summer will be different. First, she won't be staying in the back bedroom that is her favorite; her two older cousins have already claimed it for the summer. She won't be staying in the middle bedroom either, as her four-year-old cousin has settled in there. In fact, Thea would be sleeping in the attic, which is bad enough as it isn't so much a bedroom as a storage space. Yet to make it worse, she'd be sharing it with her seven-year-old cousin, Jocelyn. Almost immediately, Jocelyn becomes Thea's shadow, following her around and asking lots of questions, especially about her blue notebook. But Thea doesn't want to share what's in the notebook. At first, she struggles to find truths to write down. She writes how her relatives are strange, but loveable, how she doesn't like sharing a bedroom, and how she probably wouldn't have wanted to visit the beach house if she'd known it would be so filled with people. But as the days go by, Thea uncovers more and more truths that she's been hiding beneath the lies, like her frequent nightmares, and how much she misses her friend, Gwen, and how she'll never visit Three Mile Creek ever again. Will Thea's book of truths be able to heal her hurting heart? THE BOOK OF ONE HUNDRED TRUTHS is an incredibly journey into a girl's haunted past. Talented author, Ms. Julie Schumacher, has cleverly written a page-turner of a story filled with vividly real characters and a profound, multi-layered plot spiced up with a bit of mystery, suspense and humor. Highly recommended. --- Reviewed by Chris Shanley-Dillman, author of Finding My Light and The Black Pond [...].