Nothing But the Truth (and a few white lies) [Hardcover]

Justina Chen Headley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 5, 2006

Half Asian and half white, Patty Ho has never felt completely home in her skin. When a Chinese fortuneteller foresees a white guy on Patty's horizon, things go from bad to worse in this debut novel by a bright new talent.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 9 Up–This novel is a mostly successful exploration of teen hapa (half white, half Asian) life and the struggles unique to those who live between two distinct cultures. High school sophomore Patty Ho feels like she doesn't fit in anywhere: in her family, she is a distant second to her older brother; she sometimes feels out of place among her white friends; and she is decidedly concerned about fitting in at the math camp that she's getting ready to attend. When she arrives at Stanford University, however, Patty starts to see her situation a bit differently. The good-looking Asian boy she meets on the first day just might meet her strict mother's approval, and her new roommate is someone who, Patty notes, breaks all the rules. Just when she's starting to enjoy math camp, her domineering mother arrives and, convinced that Patty is spending more time having fun than studying, threatens to bring her home. There are some funny and thoughtful moments in the narrative as the teen undergoes significant changes in her feelings about herself and her family. The first 75 pages set up her situation at home and at school; they are both funny and telling. However, some readers might be disappointed because they can't see Patty back in her real world, and how her life has changed. In spite of these drawbacks, Headley's voice is a new and much-needed one that shows great promise.–Amy S. Pattee, Simmons College, Boston
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Gr. 8-11. In a wisecracking, first-person narrative reminiscent of Gaby Triana's Cubanita (2005), half-Taiwanese Patty Ho calls herself "a Freakinstein cobbled together from Asian and white DNA." The 15-year-old feels as uncomfortable at school as she does at home, where her domineering Taiwanese mother subjects her to installments of the "Mama Lecture Series"--one of which ends in horrified Patty's enrollment in Stanford Math Camp. To her surprise, she actually likes the brainy, spirited campers, who encourage her to celebrate her hapa (half-Asian) background and spur awakenings about both her intellect and her desirability (she upgrades from "ugly duckling" to "fiery hot chicky babe" by summer's end). Through a supportive aunt who lives near the camp, Patty also comes to a richer understanding of her tough but loving single parent. Headley lays on the empowering revelations with a trowel, and the stream of comic riffs, some of which miss the mark, slow this debut novel's pace. But Patty's contemporary, immediate thoughts about finding direction and relating to family have universal resonance, while her specific struggles will speak directly to biracial teens. Jennifer Mattson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers; Edition Unstated edition (April 5, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316011282
• ISBN-13: 978-0316011280
• Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 1 x 8.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,191,945 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I'm a YA author. My debut novel, NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH (AND A FEW WHITE LIES), won the 2007 Asian Pacific American Award for Literature. My next YA novel, GIRL OVERBOARD, is Junior Library Guild Premier Selection. I also have a picture book, THE PATCH.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Courtesy of Teens Read Too, April 1, 2006

By 

TeensReadToo "Eat. Drink. Read. Be Merrier." (All Over the US & Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Nothing But the Truth (and a few white lies) (Hardcover)

If Patricia "Patty" Yi-Phen Ho had just one wish, she knows exactly what it would be. To be white. Full-out, red-white-and-blue, all-American, totally Caucasian white. Not the half-and-half mixture that she is now, with an overbearing Taiwanese mother and a long-gone Caucasian father. Not an Amazon-tall mishmash of ancestries that leave her looking like an overgrown Asian teenager or a really tanned white one. Just plain old, blend-into-the-crowd white.

When her mom drags her to a fortune-teller who gets her information from your bellybutton rather than a crystal ball, Patty knows she's in trouble. The "you're going to have three children" prediction is a little ludicrous, given the fact she can't even get a boyfriend. But what really freaks her out--not to mention sends her mother into a fit of unintelligible Taiwanese--is the fact that, according to bellybutton lady, Patty is destined to end up with a white guy.

For Patty, that works just fine. For her mother, not so good. If her mom had her way, Patty would never get within twenty feet of a white guy, never mind date one. No, her mom wants what she didn't get herself--a marriage to a nice, respectable, rich Taiwanese doctor. Or, if there are no doctors available, a businessman would be acceptable. Never mind what Patty wants, which at this moment is knowing if the hottest guy at school, Mark Scranton, will ever notice her.

Stunned into yet more lectures about life as a poor Taiwanese girl, Patty's mother decides that this summer, instead of lounging around and possibly getting a part-time job, Patty will attend math camp at Stanford. Since her older brother, Abe, is busy "preparing" for his upcoming attendance at Harvard, he's no help to get her out of this bind. So Patty sets off to camp, resigned to hanging out with geeks.

Except math camp turns out to be not as bad as she'd thought. There's some really good-looking guys there, guys with brains. Like Stu, who blesses her with her first kiss. And might possibly end up breaking her heart. For Patty, this summer could end up teaching her a whole lot more than math. Things like what it's like to really be American, and learning to love who you are. Because there are guys out there who can love a hapa girl for who she is--if she'll just learn to love herself first.

NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH is a great read for anyone who has ever had trouble discovering their identity, or for someone looking to find out how it feels to be different. A real winner!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars True Through and Through, September 12, 2006

By 

Little Willow (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Nothing But the Truth (and a few white lies) (Hardcover)

Patty doesn't think she fits in anywhere, not even in her own family. She has a strict Taiwanese mother, an absentee white father and a college-bound older brother. As far as she can see, the scoreboard reads world = 100, Patty = 0. She is dragged with her mother to meet a fortune teller who reads her belly button (!) while everyone else is rocking out at the high school dance. She has to go to math camp while everyone else has fun summer plans. In other words, everyone else wins at life, while Patty comes up empty.

Patty's story is not just for hapas - read the book to discover the definition! - and not only for biracial teens. It has many levels of appeal. I recommend Nothing But the Truth (and a few white lies) by Justina Chen Headley to a wide variety of people - both genders, various races, all thoughtful teens, and all astute adults, especially parents. This is a story for anyone who has wondered about an absent parent or struggled with a strict parent. This is for the smart kids who wonder why their parents keep testing them and making them prove themselves. This is for the kids who look different from their classmates on the outside or simply feel different on the inside. This is for anyone who considered his or her own personal secrets, lies, and truths.

Highly recommended.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book!, September 11, 2006

By 

Alexandra (Medford, MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Nothing But the Truth (and a few white lies) (Hardcover)

Patty Ho wishes she were different. Actually, she wishes she were just like everyone else. Half-Taiwanese and half-white, she's not the same as anyone else. She's not smart enough for her über-strict mom, especially since her older brother is Harvard-bound. Her house isn't American enough for her friends-- who cares about feng shui? And she's never been able to escape jokes about her last name, ranging from Santa Claus to whores. In short, Patty can't get anything right -- even a Truth assignment! What could be simpler than the truth? After an unfortunate proclamation from a belly-button fortune teller that Patty is destined for a white guy (not her mother's idea of a Good One), she's shipped off to math camp at Stanford. Patty kicks up her heels at first, but once she gets there she learns a few big lessons. First, that math is not just for geeks anymore. Second, that there are worse things than being half-and-half. And third, that the truth is not quite so simple after all. No matter what race(s) you are, Patty is a believable, lovable character, and her story will ring true with everyone who reads it. And that's the truth.