Another book I got to read pre-publication through Penguin's firsttoread.com is The Truth Commission by Susan Juby. And I loved this book! I thought the narrator was fresh, funny, honest, and self-aware in a way I wish I was in high school. This smartly written story of three art school high schoolers takes an honest look at the truth and its consequences.
I am not one who normally reads a lot of YA, but this one caught my eye. And I'm so glad it did. The main character, Normandy Pale, is taken on a strange journey through the power of the truth and the lies we tell ourselves. Her friends at school have developed a "Truth Commission," where they challenge themselves to confront someone at their school about the truth that everyone knows even though it's supposedly a secret. Breast implants, addiction, sexual assault--all these secrets and more come out as the Truth Commission tries to uncover what is true and to put in on display in a sort of performance art.
However, Normandy understands that the truth is not so easy as that. Her family's strange and strained relationship with her older sister, a creator of a best-selling graphic novel series that features the family in less than flattering ways. Between her friends' dedication to the truth and her parents' fear of it, Normandy alone has to decide when the truth is better off left as a private affair.
It's written as narrative non-fiction, and Normandy explains a lot about the writing and about things she's learning in her classes both in the narrative and as footnotes. This probably works better for the younger readers than for adults, but if I were a teen reading this, I'd really like the footnotes and her casual writing style that invites the reader in.
If you're someone who enjoys YA, keep an eye out for this one. It's a fun read.