Truth or Dare

July 1, 2016
It's hard to watch white seventh-grader Lia, rebounding from her mother's death two years ago, engineer her own slow-motion train wreck.Like her peers, Lia spends ample time with her friends, but her circle is dominated by Abi, who enjoys humiliating them. Jules is Abi's personal flunky, never trying to fight back. Athletic Mak has the wherewithal to find other friends but takes the path of least resistance (and as biracial Korean/African-American, she's the only one identified as a person of color). Marley lives on the edge of the group, glued to them through Lia, who hasn't thought too hard about her dysfunctional pals. Although all but Marley plan to attend summer camp, at the last moment Lia, embarrassed by her mortifying lack of progress toward puberty, backs out and goes to visit her mother's oddball sister, Shelby, in Maine. When she returns, the campers have bonded through a demeaning game, "Truth or Dare." Lia chooses truth, then lies repeatedly about her summer experiences. Plagued by Abi's bullying, the group begins to splinter apart. Aunt Shelby intervenes, with unexpected results. Although the characters are archetypal, they're well enough rounded to add excruciating reality and believably illustrate one of the many forms of bullying. Lia's problems ring fully true, and her eventually learned life lessons are timeless. Entertaining bibliotherapy but also a useful road map to resolution of the age-old problem of severe cattiness. (Fiction. 10-14)

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July 1, 2016

Gr 5-8-Lia, a seventh grader, cannot bear the idea that her friends have reached puberty before her. But facts are facts, and Lia still has no boobs, and her first period has yet to arrive. Told from Lia's point of view, this title follows five seventh graders, all focused on belonging and keeping up friendships that are beginning to fray. At the center of the group is Abi, who is mean and moody and says provocative things. In order to avoid "girl talk," Lia refuses to attend sleepaway camp and instead goes to Maine to stay with her aunt Shelby, a New Age believer who uses crystals and herbal cures. Aunt Shelby tells Lia about her past painful experiences in middle school when Abi's mother bullied her. When the five girls are reunited, the meanness continues, and during a game of Truth or Dare, Lia lies and tells the group she got her period and kissed a teenage boy. Dee has a keen ear for middle school worries. Her characters talk and act like young adolescents. Some adult intervention becomes necessary when the group implodes due to lies, cruel taunts, and mockery. Aunt Shelby provides wise counsel when she tells Lia that not all friendships last, but clearing the air is still necessary. At last, Lia becomes her own person and learns to be more discerning about whom she befriends. VERDICT This is a good book to give to middle schoolers, especially young women on the verge of puberty. They will recognize themselves and their friends and may decide that when it comes to forging friendships, honesty works better than fanciful tales.-Lillian Hecker, Town of Pelham Public Library, NY

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