VVMBookBlog

Nothing but the Truth (and a few white lies) by Justina Chen Headley

Fourteen year old Patty is half Asian and half white. She is conflicted and doesn’t feel comfortable with herself and “fitting in.” Her mother is no help. In fact in the beginning of the novel her mother sends her to a “Belly Button Grandmother” to have her future read instead of letting her go to a school dance. When the Belly Button Grandmother sees an accident and white boyfriend in her future, Patty’s mother sends her to math camp at Stanford University. Luckily her mother doesn’t know she received an I (incomplete) on her “The Truth about Patty Ho” paper for English class.

Math camp is much better than Patty expected. She finally feels a little more comfortable with herself and meets a boy. When her mom shows up unexpected, life gets miserable. Instead of staying on campus she is forced to live with her aunt where she learns about her father whom she never knew, herself, and her mother.

Emil and Karl by Yankev Glatshteyn (translated by Jeffrey Shandler)

Karl is a Christian boy and Emil is a Jewish boy in this novel set in Vienna during the onset of WWII. Both boys lose their parents and are left alone. Karl quickly goes to find his friend Emil. The two boys try to figure out how to survive in a world gone mad. Struggling to find a safe place and food, they are helped by neighbors and strangers who seem to pay a steep price for helping these boys. The one thing they have is each other, and they seem inseparable.

This is another WWII novel with a different twist since it happens before the war begins. The cruelty against Jews, socialists, etc. is shown in a unique perspective. Emil and Karl show the strengths of true friendship and perseverance.