All That's True

October 4, 2010
A precocious Southern girl has an uneasy coming-of-age in Miles's by-the-numbers newest (after Cold Rock River). After Andi's older brother dies in a fraternity hazing accident, her mother hits the bottle and her father starts sleeping with her best friend's stepmother. Andi, meanwhile, goes through the routine adolescent gauntlet of heartache, struggles with peer pressure, and learning a little about herself and her place in a difficult world. Miles does a credible job of capturing Andi's adolescent voice and weaving in dilemmas and issues with a light touch, and even if the plot goes right where you expect it to and the supporting cast is a bit on the bland side, it covers the coming-of-age bases with ease.

October 15, 2010
Andis life is abuzz with events, some potentially life-changing, some simply quotidian occurrences for any 13-year-old girl, like falling in love, volunteering at a senior-citizen home, putting up with an older sisters wedding plans, and learning her father is cheating on her motheroops, that one belongs in the life-changing category, along with her mothers alcoholism, the death of her beloved older brother, the discovery that his girlfriend is pregnant with his child, and more, much more. For the most part, Miles handles all of these goings-on with grace, but some crises are too easily resolved. The older sister, for example, comes out as a lesbian, and the news is greeted with no more than a smile and shrug. Also, a guidance counselor blithely tells a distressed Andi, You can choose to be happy, just as easily as you can decide to be sad. Well, thats good to know! All in all, the novel reads like a Hallmark movie, but thats not entirely a bad thing. All Thats True captures the trauma of a teen girls life and is sure to attract an enthusiastic readership.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)