"The Truth About Alice" Teen/YA Book Review

            Hey folks! I have another teen/ya fiction novel to share with you today that takes a look at the gritty realities of high school life: namely bullying, lying, and rumor spreading. One girl finds out the hard way how much lies and gossip can really hurt your relationships and reputation.
            There's not much to do on the weekends in the small town of Healy, Texas. So, naturally anyone who's anyone at the local high school shows up at Elaine O'Dea's party one weekend. Nothing exciting ever happens in Healy, even at the parties, but this weekend is different. News of Alice Franklin sleeping with two guys that night spreads like wildfire. Even the adults of the town know about it.
            Things only get worse for Alice when one of the guys she slept with dies a month or so later in a car accident...Which was allegedly her fault because she was sending him inappropriate text messages and Brandon got distracted. The rumors start spiraling out of control after that. Alice becomes a pariah of the school for the rest of her junior year. Only the weird guy with no friends will even talk to or hang around her.
            Of course, Alice denies everything. So who's telling the truth? There's only one way to find out...
             Overall I enjoyed The Truth About Alice. I especially enjoyed that, while it was an entertaining story to read to find out what really happened, it also sneaks in the important lessons of why it's not ok to lie, make up rumors, and bully others. I think we can all agree that bullying comes in many varieties. Just because someone isn't physically beating you up doesn't necessarily mean it's not still bullying.
            I think all teenage girls in high school should read this book. I really hope it would be an eye opener for some girls who might happen to act like Elaine and Kelsie and that they would see the error of their ways. Bullying is still very much a problem in some schools and it doesn't just happen to boys.
            Coming from a small town myself (about 5,000), I thought the author pretty accurately portrayed small town life. (At least from my experience.) The popular kids will spread rumors about others just to keep their own good standing at the top of the high school social food chain, so to speak. Football was really big in my hometown as well, just like the book, so I could definitely relate to the fact that the star players and jocks could do no wrong in anyone's eyes. Personally, it's kind of frightening, in my opinion. But that's a whole other story...
            One last note I would like to add is that yes, as you can gather, there are sexual themes in this book. It also touches on abortion some. If you are concerned about your child reading about things of this nature, you have been forewarned. However, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but unless you homeschool, your kids probably already hear talk about sex and who's doing it etc. etc. Not trying to be a jerk, just stating the truth. It hasn't been THAT long since I've been out of high school.
            You can pre-order The Truth About Alice (which will be available June 3rd) by visiting the publisher's website HERE.

Disclaimer: I received a free epub copy of this book through NetGalley.com. Regardless, all opinions are my own.