*How to Tell a True Story by Tricia Springstubb

How to Tell a True Story ponders how “truth” is perceived and what it may cost to reveal it.

*How to Tell a True Story by Tricia Springstubb. Margaret Ferguson Books, 2025. 304 pages.

• Reading Level: Teens, ages 12-15
• Recommended For: Ages 10-15

How to Tell a True Story: The Story

Amber Price didn’t usually sleep in her brother’s attic bedroom. The only reason she did that night was because Gage was out late and she missed him. Also she knew that if he didn’t get home before their dad got off evening shift at the hospital, there would be fireworks, as Dad rode Gage much harder than he needed to. After a conversation with her best friend Lottie, who feared their other best friend Mariah was snubbing her, Amber fell into a fitful sleep . . . and woke to the smell of smoke. And the crackle of flames. And her brother’s voice frantically calling her name until he found her, wrapped her in his hoodie, and carried to safety through fire and smoke.

Gage is a hero, but the house, which the family has only owned for two months, is a total loss. Amber, her mother, and her little sister Clancy move in with relatives, but Dad and Gage move into an apartment until they can get the insurance worked out. The good news is that Dad’s opinion of his son has risen considerably, but the bad news is that he’s also growing increasingly alienated from Mom. Amber is surprised that her own status has risen along with her brother’s. Everyone wants to know her, and everyone wants to help; there’s even a split between her two best friends as she finds herself drawn into Mariah’s orbit and away from Lottie’s. It doesn’t feel right, but it does feel good—or does it? Her feelings are equally confused over the boy she likes now noticing her, and the school getting behind a massive fund-raising effort for the Price family, and her new admittance to the cool lunch table. “Till now, middle school had basically been all about knowing where you belong.” Does she belong to a new group now, or is her new status temporary?

How to Tell a True Story: What IS True?

Most puzzling of all is Gage’s attitude. He resists characterization as a hero, and Amber senses it’s not just modesty. He’s really bothered about something, and his agitation increases as the date approaches for the Price family to be honored with a huge check. More questions arise in Amber’s mind about where he was the night of the fire and about whose version of that story is true—and what constituted truth, anyway? “Maybe truth was beauty, but did that mean less-than-truth was ugly? There were shades of things. Degrees of things . . . Truth was turning out to be way more complicated than she’d thought.”

This is a story to make readers wonder what they would do in a similar situation. The “correct” response is by no means assumed, and the ending will encourage readers to be honest about their reactions. The characters are well-drawn and sympathetic and the plot slowly rachets up tension until we’re very involved with this family and want the best for them. A worthy read for upper middle-graders and early teens.

Considerations:

• Language: two instances of “h—,” one misuse of God’s name

Bottom Line: A thoughtful and sympathetic exploration of the meaning of truth as it’s lived out rather than theorized.

*indicates a starred review (the best of the best in its field)

Recommended Reading at Redeemed Reader

• Reviews: Also by Tricia Springstubb: Looking for True, *The Most Perfect Thing in the Universe (another starred review), Every Single Second, and *Cody and the Fountain of Happiness (another starred review)
• Review: Liar & Spy by Rebecca Stead has similar themes of the cost of truthfulness.
• Review: Finally, Code of Silence is a mystery that also reckons with the cost of telling the truth.

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