Nothing But the Truth by Avi

Avi, Nothing but the Truth.

Orchard Books; 1991,

ISBN: 0531059596.

Reader’s Annotation

All Philip want to do is run track, but when Miss Narwin gives him a D, he’s off the team.  But his plan to get out of Miss Narwin’s class blows up into payback like he never imagined.

Plot Summary

Philip Malloy has a grudge.  Because of his poor performance, Miss Narwin give Philip a D in English, and that prevents him from trying out for the track team, which is his passion.  He doesn’t tell his parents.  He just acts like he doesn’t want to do track anymore.  To make matters worse, his schedule gets changed and now for homeroom he has—that’s right, Miss Narwin.  Philip comes up with a plan.  He will irritate and annoy Miss Narwin so much that she will surely have him moved to another class.  The perfect opportunity comes with the morning announcements, after which everyone is supposed to “rise and stand in respectful silence for the playing the National Anthem.”  Philip starts humming along.  When Miss Narwin hears the humming, she’s furious, and finally locates the source.  Philip gets sent to the principal when he refuses to stop.  He has a choice—he can apologize to Miss Narwin, or be suspended for three days.  Philip refuses to apologize.  When he tells his parent what happened, some of the details get left out or distorted.  They go to their friend on the school board, who happens to be talking to a reporter, who jumps on Philip’s story.  The principal’s in a rush to protect himself, as are others, and the blame for inhibiting Philip’s rights gets dumped wholly on Miss Narwin.  Avi uses a unique combination of mostly non-narrative communications to tell the story.  With each communication, however, people state the facts and they know them, but the truth gets left behind.

Critical Evaluation

Avi’s intriguing use of memos, phone calls, letters and conversation to tell his story works well for this documentary novel.  He use an unmistakable depiction of Philip as a typical high school boy with a grudge against a teacher.  You get the sense that the humming incident was not planned out, and certainly Philip had no idea how out of control the whole thing would become.  The whole novel bears similarities to the game of “Gossip” wear each person in a group whispers something and then passes it on until the message become hilariously distorted.  For Miss Narwin, though, the results are not hilarious.  From her perspective, she’s dealing with a troublesome, underachieving, disrespectful student.  Avi drives home the point that if you’re not careful, the truth can get lost in the facts.

Information about the Author

Avi (pen name for Edward Irving Wortis), has written more than 60 books. He has writes for different age groups and in many different genres including historical fiction, fantasies, comedies, mysteries, ghost stories, adventure tales, realistic fiction, and picture books.   When he was growing up in Brooklyn, his twin sister Emily gave him the nickname Avi, and it stuck.  So much so that Avi doesn’t discuss his real name.  Avi has won countless awards for his writing and now lives with his wife in Denver, CO.  For more information, go to: http://www.avi-writer.com/

Genre

Realistic Fiction

Documentary Novel

Curriculum Tie-ins

Social studies

Booktalk Ideas

1. After Philip’s story gets reported in the press, is there anything Philip could have done to change the outcome?
2. Can you think of any real-life examples of this type of thing happening?

Reading level/Interest age

Ages 12 +

Challenge Issues/Challenge Response Ideas

None

Why I included this work

The format intrigued me as did the number of awards and honors.  The following are some of the awards for Nothing But the Truth:

• YALSA One of the Best YAs from the last twenty-five years, 1994
• Newbery Honor Book, 1992
• Horn Book-Boston Globe Award Honor Book, 1992
• ALA Notable, 1992
• Best Books for Young Adults 1992, YASD
• Editors' Choice 1991, Booklist
• One of the Best Books of 1991, Horn Book
• One of the Best Books of 1991, School Library Journal
• Best Books of 1991, Publishers Weekly
• American Booksellers Children’s Choice List, 1992
• Best Books for Teens 1992, NY Public Library
• Library Of Congress: Best Books for Children, 1992.
• Horn Book , Fanfare Award, 1992

Great Quote from the Book:

“I don’t know the words.”