Truth

It was a redheaded man sprawled across the floor in Ian's parents' room, one arm up as if he'd rolled out of bed. His arm was twisted, and the back of his head was wet with blood. Just breathe, I tell myself as I drum my fingernails on the dining room table. Don't think about it. If you think about it, Officer Wells is going to know. And he doesn't know anything. He's not looking for you anyway. I make my fingers stop tapping. When an adult neighbor is brutally murdered during a high-school house party, everyone in school seems to have an idea who did it, but no one will go to the police. Jen was there and saw the body and she has her own ideas about who is responsible. As a reporter for the school TV show, she decides to try and uncover the truth and discover if a classmate's increasingly violent behavior is to blame. When she and others begin digging too deeply, violence flares in the small community. Finally, Jen is forced to take a stand, one that may cost her more than she could imagine. Truth was inspired by actual events and informed by Tanya Lloyd Kyi's interest in the teen code of silence that seems to be so ubiquitous today. Tanya is a freelance graphic designer and writer. Her most recent book, Canadian Girls Who Rocked the World (Whitecap) has been nominated for the Saskatchewan Young Readers' Choice Award. Tanya has never solved a murder.

Portia Cohens - Children's Literature

Jen Forester, a senior in high school, finds herself in the middle of a murder case after attending a party one night. When news spreads of a party at Ian Klassen's home while his parents are out of town, every high school student in the small town of Fairfield, British Columbia gets excited and plans to attend. When the murder of Ted Granville, a local banker, becomes front-page news, the whole town questions who would commit such a horrific crime. As Jen begins to investigate for the school news television program, she finds herself questioning some of her closest friends as well as her boyfriend. An internal conflict develops, as Jen must decide between doing the right and moral thing and being loyal to her friends. Kyi's suspenseful presentation invokes the reader to keep reading until Jen solves the murder. Because the plot revolves around the murder, the reader does not see much character development. However, the story illustrates well the struggle between being honest, caving in to peer pressure, and speaking up for your beliefs. 2003, Orca Book Publishers, Ages 13 to 17.