Headley, Justina Chen (2006). Nothing But the Truth (and a few white lies). NY, Boston: Little, Brown. ISBN: 0316011282. 241 pages.
Rising high school sophomore Patty Ho feels like she doesn’t fit in anywhere: in her family, she is a distant second to her older brother; of half-white, half-Asian descent, she sometimes feels out of place among her white friends; and, she is decidedly concerned about fitting in at the math camp she’s getting ready to attend. When she arrives at the Stanford University Math Camp, however, Patty starts to see her situation a bit differently. The good-looking Asian boy she meets on the first day just might meet her strict mother’s approval and her new roommate is someone who, Patty notes, “breaks all the rules—stereotypes, Math Camp and China Doll”(p. 102). Just when she’s starting to get comfortable at Stanford, trouble arrives and Patty has to figure out some way to stay at the once-dreaded math camp when her mother threatens to bring her home. Headley’s first young adult novel is a mostly successful exploration of teen “hapa” (half white, half Asian) life and the struggles unique to those who live between two distinct cultures. There are some funny and thoughtful moments in the narrative, though the book suffers due to its length; Patty undergoes the greatest and most significant changes while away at math camp and the novel would do well to focus more intensely on just this experience. Headley’s voice is a new and much needed one that shows promise. Recommend this new novel along with Jean Davies Okimoto’s Talent Night and The Eclipse of Moonbeam Dawson. |
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