Book Review: Nothing but the Truth by Avi (A must read book for teachers)

If I had a conversation with someone and they told me a dilemma or interest they have in their lives, I’ll bet I can suggest a book for them to read. For Example, a girl in a writing club I used to supervise was frustrated because her mother devotes most of her attention to her autistic brother. Was it any surprised I gave her a copy of Cynthia Lord’s book Rules?

Or how another young woman in the group shared a poem about cutting, so I lent her a copy of Cut by Patricia McCormick.

Or how I bought a copy of Laura Amy Shultz’s Newbery Medal picture book of Medieval poems, Good Masters, Sweet Ladies, for Lucy’s social studies teacher to share with the students—albeit, I doubt if he ever did.

You name the subject, I can suggest a book. So, when Lucy told me that her favorite teacher is continually disrespected in English class, I pulled out Avi’s book, Nothing But The Truth, and told Lucy to lend it to her. When I picked Lucy up from school, I asked her if she gave her teacher the book. Lucy started crying and told me that her teacher is too much like the teacher in the book, and she didn't want to upset her.

Nothing but the Truth is a must read for every middle and high school teacher. Lucy’s eighth grade teacher assigned it to the class, and I thought it was a wonderful book for students to read. It was interesting to get Lucy’s perspective (as a teen) versus mine (as an adult).

I would bet my hard-earned money— I get nauseous when I lose a roll of nickels at a slot machine in Las Vegas, so you know I believe it’s a sure thing I’ll win—that every teacher has had a student in their class like the main character, Philip Maloy, though maybe not to the extent of the plot.

One of the things I appreciated about this book was the fact it showed the extent of self-absorption of teens today, and how blindly parents jump to defend bad behavior in school. There is no happy ending for any of the parties involved, but in my opinion (as an adult) I believed the real victim was the teacher. The book shows teen narcissism, to the point the main character destroyed his desires in the process. What disturbed me the most was no one, other students included, stood up for the dedicated teacher.

I am not a teacher, so I have no bias in my opinion. I am a mother, who teaches my child how to show respect for her elders, and go to school to learn.

I'm airing out a little frustration in this next paragraph, not at one particular teacher but at the California school system in general...

However, I fought for four years to have my daughter tested for a learning disability after seeing her struggle every night with homework. My concerns were not toward any particular teacher, but toward the establishment who told me that because her California test scores were too high to warrant such tests. Not giving up, I went to an independent agency.

After a series of tests, it was shown that Lucy has a condition called dysgraphia. Finally, after four-and-a-half years of petitioning for extra time for Lucy to finish class assignments or to have notes be made available, she was given a 504 plan.

The point is, a responsible parent is involved in their child's learning. To find out how Philip's parents handled the problem, read the book and find out.