Review - All That's True by Jackie Lee Miles

TITLE:    All That's True
AUTHOR:    Jackie Lee Miles
INFO:    Paperback, Fiction, 318 pages
PUBLISHED:   Sourcebooks Landmark, 2011
ISBN#:   978-1-4022-4085-0
HOW I GOT IT:   Received from Publisher for Review

FROM GOODREADS:  "My life was close to perfect-until my brother Alex got killed and my mother started drinking and my father starting having sex with Donna, my best friend's stepmother, who's not even thirty years old."
  
Thirteen-year-old Andi St. James' privileged life in Atlanta is interrupted one fall, to say the least. With an equal mix of joy and sorrow, All That's True follows Andi's poignant-and sometimes laugh-out-loud-journey to young adulthood, where she struggles with the elusive nature of truth and the devastating consequences of deception.

MY TAKE:  I liked this book and my heart went out to 13 yr old Andi as she dealt with several life-changing events in the span of one year.  The story was written in almost a diary type format with Andi telling us everything in her own words.

There were many humorous moments as well as a few sad ones in this book.  Andi is from a very wealthy family who wants for nothing.  They have a maid who is also the cook as well as a driver/gardener/handyman/etc.  The characters are believable for the most part.  Some are a bit light, but for the most part well written.

It is interesting to see this all play out in the eyes of a teenage girl.  She talks about her closet alcoholic mother following the maid emptying trashcans.  We visit the nursing homes with Andi.  We are with Andi and her best friend Bridget when they catch Andi's father cheating with Bridget's stepmother.  We feel Andi's pain at the loss of yet another loved one in her life.  A lot of emotions and plot turns are covered in this story.

This is an enjoyable read that I think will make young readers take a look at their own situations and compare.  They'll find that just because a person has everything (material), things are never what they seem.  

Out of 5 JEWELS, I give it:

WHERE TO BUY IT:    Amazon, IndieBound, Powell's Books, The Book Depository

 
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