Nothing But the Truth (and a Few White Lies)

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Nothing But the Truth (and a Few White Lies)

Author(s)

Justina Chen Headley

Publisher

Little Brown & Company

Genre(s)

General Fiction

Age Range

12+

Release Date

April 05, 2006

ISBN

0316011282

Buy This Book

Half Asian and half white, Patty Ho has never felt completely home in her skin. When a Chinese fortuneteller foresees a white guy on Patty's horizon, things go from bad to worse in this debut novel by a bright new talent.

Editor reviews

2 reviews

Whole or Half, this is a great book

April 26, 2006

Overall rating

5.0

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Nothing But the Truth

For once, heres a book that I could just about completely identify with, even though my half comes from China instead of Taiwan. Patty Ho is a HAPA (half-asian, half-white) with a somewhat overbearing and very academically-focused all-Taiwanese mom. Pattys not at all sure which side of her heritage to embrace, but shes pretty darn sure that the embarrassing side all comes from her mother, epic-length lectures and strange trips to belly-button-probing fortunetellers included.

When said fortuneteller predicts a white guy in her future, her mom reacts by no, not forbidding dating per se but by sending Patty off to Math Camp at Stanford. Yup, math camp.

Even though Patty is a whiz at math (not that she exactly tries), Math Camp really isnt her idea of the perfect summer. But things look up after she meets Stu, a really hot Math Camp attendee and Jasmine, her new roommate (and a girl with a great attitude and a fun personality who helps Patty see her own inner Asian Mafia-Girl).

But when Pattys mom descends upon Math Camp like an avenging angel (or is that demon) and discovers Patty out with Stu, she packs her up and only agrees to let her go back (which Patty wants to, by this time) if Patty stays off campus at her Aunt Lus house.

That works out to be a good thing when Patty starts bonding with kinder, gentler Aunt Lu and gets past her Asian-block to learn some things about her mother. Throw in some more romance, some buildering (climbing buildings, similar to bouldering which is part of rock climbing), and some kick-butt Asian (and half-Asian) girls and youve got a really good read.

Whether you are Asian, half-Asian, no-Asian or anything in between (three-quarters-Asian?), this is a book you will enjoy. Its all about self-discovery, family, and being true to yourself. Recommended for girls aged 12 and up, especially if you happen to be hapa. Trust me, youll relate.

Kimberly Pauley Top 50 Reviewer 393 reviews

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Nothing But The Truth

January 24, 2010

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5.0

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Reader reviewed by DC Duke B Ball 4 Life

Nothing But The Truth

   The book Nothing But The Truth by Avi,provoked me that it is the best book I have ever read. This is a great story for teens.
    Nothing But The Truth
is about a high school boy, Phillip Malloy who says the Pledge Of
Allegiance really loud when his class resides it. He is also a stubborn
person. He has a teacher named Miss. Narwin. She is the strictest
teacher at his school, and he has her for homeroom.
    Avi does a
great job of making this story into memos, paragraphs, dialogue, and
like a play. The author makes great disruptions about the
characters.Also the author does a good job making it feel like a real
life situation.
    When I scrutinize this book it is great, the best story I have ever read! I denounce this novel five stars out of five.

Guest #1 Reviewer

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Engaging, Intelligent, Amusing, and Moving

August 18, 2006

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4.0

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Reader reviewed by Stephanie

Half-white, half-Asian Patty Ho has never felt complete. Her white friends always joke about her crazy Taiwanese mother's ways, and Patty shuns the company of the goodie-goodie Anne Wong, the only other Asian girl at her school. But worst of all in Patty's life is her mother, who's a five-foot-tall, traditional, wary, embarrassing Mom-inator, complete with foreign accent. Mom's worst regret is marrying Patty and her older brother Abe's (oh, did we mention that beloved Abe is going to Harvard?) father, who disappeared mysteriously when Patty was 2. No one ever talks about him.

When a bellybutton fortune reading reveals that Patty will marry a white man, her mother freaks out and ships her off to math camp at Stanford along with Anne. But Palo Alto, California is a lot different than Washington State. There a millions of Asian guys (which ought to make Patty's mom happy, as she wants her daughter to marry a rich Taiwanese man). There's Stu, for example, who's hot, Chinese, AND thinks hapas are cute. And Patty is slowly beginning to learn to love being "the best of both worlds."

Of course, there's still her crazy worrywart mother to ruin her summer... but what turns out to be heartbreak and humiliation may reveal clues about her mother's past that Patty never knew.

Justina Chen Headley takes readers through every aspect of Patty's emotional understanding of herself. With plenty of self-deprecating humor and Asian references, this book accurately depicts the confusing life of a hapa, and how she learns to love herself for who she is... no lies.

Guest #1 Reviewer

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exotic!

July 12, 2006

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5.0

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Reader reviewed by Dominique

Fifteen-year-old Patty Ho does not feel comfortable in her own skin. She’s half Taiwanese and half white and doesn’t like being stuck in the middle, looking neither pure white nor pure Asian. She lives with her brother and mother, but her father left them when Patty was still very young. Her mother wants Patty to grow up to be successful and to marry a Taiwanese guy and settle down. However, her mother is less than pleased when “belly-button Grandmother” (who, you guessed it, reads people’s futures through their belly-buttons) predicts Patty ending up with a white guy. Her mother cannot speak very good English, is very strict, and sends Patty to Stanford Math Camp for the summer.

Patty, who is very good at math (and even writes proofs on her problems and life!), is surprised when she find out how much fun math camp really is. Her spirited new friends show her that being HAPA (half Asian and half white) background isn’t bad at all. They celebrate it, and many find it exotic. By the end of the summer Patty goes from quiet and insecure to bold and confident. No one can bring this chick down!

Join Patty and friends in her witty adventure in finding herself and being proud of her background instead of being ashamed! Funny and clever Patty has a truly unforgettable summer that will change her life forever!

Guest #1 Reviewer

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Poor, poor, Patty

June 27, 2006

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3.0

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Reader reviewed by safia

Patty Ho seems to have the worst luck of all. She's half Asian and half white, but not Asian enough to fit in with the other Asian girls and not white enough to avoid bullying from Steve Kosanko, school-wide jerk and racist pig. Her mother (good at embarrassing) is constantly pushing at Patty to do better and is in competition with the other Asian moms over their kids. Patty is tall, gawky, and has a brother ready to go to Harvard. Can life get any worse?
Yes, it does when Patty learns she is being sent out to math camp over the summer. Can she deal?

In this story Patty is about to discover many truths about her family and mostly herself. She tells it all (nothing but the truth--and a few white lies) with humor, wit, and charm.

Guest #1 Reviewer

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Half-Asians, math geeks, or anything else-everyone can relate to this.

June 14, 2006

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5.0

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Reader reviewed by Jocelyn

I'm not half Asian, but I am something of a math geek (and one who's not particularly fond of math all the time, like Patty), and, even if you're neither one of those things, you'll be able to relate to this awesome book.

To start the book out, Patty is dragged by her tyrannical Taiwanese mother to a fortune teller who reads not palms, but belly-buttons. This fortune teller predicts, among other things, that there will be a white guy in Patty's future--something that really sets her mother off. Patty is promptly shipped off to Stanford math camp, where, besides math, she has one other school assignment to do. She has to rewrite the "truth statement" about herself that she turned in at the end of the last school year.

Through all of her adventures, including "buildering" (rock-climbing on buildings) with her new friend Jasmine, meeting her Auntie Lu and learning some surprising things about her mother, meeting an Asian guy who STILL isn't what her mother wants for her, and finding out her goody-two-shoes classmate, Anne, is writing a romance novel, Patty learns a lot about herself. She learns even more about herself than she does about other people, which definitely helps a lot with her truth statement.

I really loved this book. It was funny and real, with a main character who speaks to all teenage girls. I definitely reccomend it--read this book!

Guest #1 Reviewer

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relatable

May 28, 2006

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3.0

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Reader reviewed by sara

i love how this book is so easy to relate to.I feel like the main characters are just like me.My favorite thing is how Patty(the main girl) tells everything how it really is.She doesn't try to cover stuff up or make it easier to read about.I think you should read this book so you can hear everything how it really is

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Ho Ho's and Hapas!

May 20, 2006

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5.0

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Reader reviewed by Val

Nothing But the Truth was hysterical and so truthful at times it stung. Patty Ho the main character spares no details in giving the reader the background of her life. From, living with her jaded first generation Taiwanese mother who insists that her demise came after she disregarded her familys wishes, ran away with a white man who she had two children with and then left. She insists that Patty excel in school and succeed in everything so that one day she can go to a good college and marry a Good One. Whats a Good One? In Pattys mother terms its a Taiwanese doctor, stressing the Taiwanese part. Between her eccentric strict mother and dealing with her HAPA self, (Hawaiian term for someone who is half white half Asian) which she cant see as anything other than weird and uncomfortable, she struggles to come to terms with her biracial self. It is later on when she is forced to go to a math camp at Stanford that she discovers that being biracial isnt about deciding or choosing one side. Its like her math camp roommate Jasmine said, shes lucky because she gets to have the best of both worlds. Patty gives us the truth about Stu, a cute guy at Math Camp, Jasmine, her roommate at Stanford, Her Aunt Lu, Her mother all the while letting us into her world and self. This book was absolutely amazing, a rare find that is completely relatable to. Everyone has felt at one time or another that cant fit in their skin or that their parents are way strict because it was how they were raised. Everyone has heard the lecture seminars before, the ones that go: something along the lines of Your so lucky because& Or how about the ever popular Im so disappointed in you& What makes this book different is that someone is actually writing about it, no sugar coated writing Patty tells it like it is 99.1 percent hence the whole and a few white lies but that why we love her!

Guest #1 Reviewer