Dare Truth or Promise [Hardcover]

Paula Boock (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 25, 1999

When Louie and Willa first meet, they don't know their lives will soon be changed forever. Self-assured Louie is gearing up for another successful year in high school, starring in a production of Twelfth Night and running the Comedy Club. Kicked out of her last school and still stinging from a past relationship, Willa wants only to get through her final year at school quietly so she can graduate and become a chef. More than anything, she wants to be left alone. But each girl unexpectedly finds that plans mean nothing when it comes to love. Louie discovers that everything she was sure of-acceptance, faith, and identity-are not what they had seemed. And Willa finds herself suddenly willing to take another chance.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

"When Willa turned and kissed her, Louie thought in her head, this is my first kiss. It wasn't, of course, she'd kissed a number of boys, and done more too, but she'd never, ever felt as if she were falling off a cliff."

Dare Truth or Promise, a turbulent love story by New Zealander Paula Boock, recalls Nancy Garden's Annie on My Mind and Good Moon Rising in its portrayal of two young women caught up in sexual passion for each other. Louie is the talented daughter of wealthy and cultured parents, and Willa is a strong-minded redhead who lives over the pub. They come from different worlds, but when they meet working at Burger Giant, lightning strikes--soon they are frantically in love. Willa has had a previous affair that was undermined by denial, but this time it feels inevitable and right, even when Louie's mother banishes Willa after discovering them in an embrace; even when Willa is threatened by hostile anonymous notes; even when they avoid each other in confusion and pain. Thanks to the acceptance of her tough bartender mother, Willa gains the strength to wait it out, but a psychologist tells Louie that her feelings are a passing phase, a fundamentalist promises her sins will land her in hell, and her best friend is supportive but embarrassed. The healing words that finally enable Louie to believe in herself and return to the relationship come at last from a young priest: "You see, I think love comes from God. And so, to turn away from love, real love, it could be argued, is to turn away from God." (Ages 16 and older) --Patty Campbell

From Publishers Weekly

New Zealand author Boock traces the developing lesbian romance between two high school seniors in an ultimately uplifting novel. The two are from different social strata: Louie quotes Shakespeare and poetry and comes from a conservative, upper-middle-class background, while newcomer Willa, still suffering from the repercussions of an ill-fated first relationship with another girl, lives above a pub. Told in a third-person narrative that alternates between the two characters' points of view, the book offers a frank appraisal of the girls' initial attraction, passions and the conflicts of dealing with a variety of outsidersAparents, friends, co-workers, etc. When Louie's mother discovers the two girls in bed together in Louie's room, she forbids Louie to see Willa. After a rather prolonged period of suffering and soul-searching, they are able to reunite. Although Boock's intense narrative crosses into melodrama and occasionally plants an important scene offstage, teens who are curious about or struggling with questions of sexual identity will find reassurance in these pages. The characters' interactions with Louie's father and priest, and Willa's conversations with her own mother, convey an empathy and tolerance strong enough to counterbalance the intolerance the lovers face from everyone else. Ages 12-up. (Oct.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children; None edition (October 25, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0395971179
• ISBN-13: 978-0395971178
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #918,358 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars For Those Who Found It Too Hard, January 14, 2006

By 

Ray Kay "The Denominator" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dare Truth or Promise (Hardcover)

There isn't much that I can say about this novel that other people have already said. I can say that this book was so unbelievably incredible, it left me with my head spinning for days after I read it. The writing alone is utterly brilliant. This book is filled with honest, clever and elegant prose that I think future writers should take note on. As for the story, I don't think there was a better way Paula Boock could have delivered it. It wasn't simply a story of two girls having a lesbian fling. It's a story of deep, painful, heart-wrenching love and the tortures people can endure in this life. The novel was centred on the main characters Louie and Willa, but readers got to see other characters' perspective on the situation. Every minor character was given their own dues. This is not a novel where the author forgets about her 'background' characters, and I appreciate that she cares for them, instead of just sticking them in for plot progression. Another thing I enjoyed about this book was the themes building off of love. Familial love, self-love, the strength of friendship, that is, platonic love, and most importantly, passionate love for another human being. It was almost difficult for me to read this novel; it hurt too much. The realism of which this story is told is gripping and beautiful. Also, it isn't a fairy tale. These characters face so much anguish that none of them deserve.
Pick up this book. Read it. You might be in tears at the end.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good Book for Confused Teens, June 9, 2004

By 

Bette (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dare Truth or Promise (Hardcover)

This was a great book. Whether your are gay, bi, straight, or curious, you will enjoy it. It answers the questions a curious mind may have... and it helped me to decide to come out. I reccomend it to anyone. Even if you just want to read something, this is good reading, otherwise my school library wouldn't own it.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very beautifully written, March 13, 2003

By 

paedagogue "paedagogue" (Chapel Hill, NC) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Dare Truth or Promise (Hardcover)

a trim but suggestive narrative style makes this story of young lesbian love something worth reading even after you're long past the high school years. In terms of sheer literary quality, it stands up there with Jean Stewart's lovely Emerald City Blues (though the latter is considerably more explicit, and not so tightly focused on the main protagonists' personal angst). Anyway, Boock can really write.