Author: Deborah Ellis
Genre: realistic fiction
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The Truth About Twinkie Pie by Kat Yeh
Rating:
.JPG)
Summary (provided by publisher): Suspended from school and prone to rages, twelve-year-old Kate finds her own way to get on with her life, despite the messed-up adults around her. Her gran, for one, is stubborn and aloof — not unlike Kate herself, who has no friends, and who’s been expelled for “behavioral issues,” like the meltdowns she has had ever since her mom dumped her with her grandmother three years ago. Kate dreams that one day her mother will return for her. When that happens, they’ll need money, so Kate sets out to make some.
Gran nixes her idea to sell psychiatric advice like Lucy in Peanuts (“You’re not a psychiatrist. You’ll get sued.”), so Kate decides to open a philosophy booth to provide answers to life’s big and small questions. She soon learns that adults have plenty of problems and secrets of their own, including Gran. When she finds that her grandmother has been lying to her about her mother, the two have a huge fight, and Gran says she can’t wait for Kate to finish high school so she’ll be rid of her at last. Kate decides to take matters into her own hands and discovers that to get what she wants, she may have to reach out to some unexpected people, and find a way to lay down her own anger.
My opinion: There is a bit of an air of unreality to this story. The details sit just outside of what we would expect but that's less of a barrier than we might expect. It makes some resolutions a bit tidier than they ought to be in terms of facts. Emotionally, though, the journey is messy and complex. That's where this book shines. It gives us a cast of complex characters who have all made mistakes and need to find a way forward. While uncomfortable reading at times, the book overall is quick and worth the effort.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley
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