Thursday, April 23, 2020

The Truth About Alice by Jennifer Mathieu

Title: The Truth About Alice
Author: Jennifer Mathieu
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Publication Date: June 3, 2014

 Format: eBook
Price: $8.51
Page Count: 208 pages
ISBN-13: 9781596439108

 Reading Level: Grades 7 and up (ages 12+)
Lexile: 900L
Interest Level: Grades 9 and up (ages 14+)

 Annotation: Alice Franklin is a slut, at least that is how her classmates describe her. But what is the truth? What really happened at the party that night?

 Plot and Content Summary: Alice Franklin slept with two boys in one night. At least, that is what everyone is saying. She is soon labeled the school's slut, but says nothing to defend herself. Why should she? Told in multiple perspectives, we learn about Alice from four different people: Brandon (the jock), Kurt (the nerd), Elaine (the queen bee), and Kelsie (the ex-best friend). But who is Alice really?

 Evaluation: The strength of this book is the different perspectives of Alice from her classmates. We hear what others say about Alice and develop our opinions based on that, which reveals how easily we are influenced by other people's words and thoughts. Seeing the rumors spread from person to person shows how we must be careful with the things we choose to say. I appreciated the way Mathieu took these stereotypical high school characters and zoomed in on their public lives vs. their private lives. This gave each person an extra layer, allowing us to see why they may have been acting a certain way. Overall, a solid take on the insecurities that teenagers face and how quickly rumors spiral.

 Bibliotherapeutic Usefulness: Teens are bound to be caught up in rumors—being the subject of them, spreading them, or hearing them. Reading The Truth About Alice and seeing things from multiple perspectives may bring a sense of awareness to these types of situations. By recognizing the impact of spreading false statements, teens may be more urgent to stop them. For those who have had bad things said about them, hopefully this can be a comfort.

 Issues Present: Adults may label this a controversial book for teens due to the explicit comments from the teen characters. It may feel exaggerated, as if this type of talk does not happen in high schools, but it does happen. Much of what happens amongst teenagers do not reach the ears of adults, and many would be surprised to know how vicious and damaging it can get in real life. Keeping The Truth About Alice around means that teens get an outside perspective on how out of control rumors can get.

 Book Talk Ideas: Discuss who Alice is from each of the four perspectives. What are the similarities and differences? How do their public and private lives impact what they say out loud about her? Of what they say about Alice to their classmates, how much of it reflects what they actually think about her? Finally, how does Alice describe herself?

Genre/Subgenres: First person narratives; Multiple perspectives; Realistic fiction

 Readalikes: A Girl Like That by Tanaz Bhathena; Just Listen by Sarah Dessen; The Boyfriend List by E. Lockhart; Some Girls Are by Courtney Summers

References
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