Truth

by Tanya Lloyd Kyi

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.

Genres: Mystery, Young Adult, Realistic Fiction, Teen, Crime, Fiction, Ebooks

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Tanya writes both fiction and non-fiction, often choosing topics related to science, pop culture, or social history—or a combination of the three. She enjoys combining factual research with intriguing narratives, or the life stories of interesting folks.

In her spare time, Tanya likes to run, bake, and read. Her favourite meal is breakfast, her favourite color is blue, and her favourite children’s book is A Wrinkle in Time.

Tanya grew up in Creston, B.C., and now lives in Vancouver with her husband, who claims to be the world's only Burmese occupational therapist. She balances writing time with parenthood, caring for her daughter Julia and her son Matthew.

Reviews

[Noe Sanchez]

Truth, by Tanya Lloyd Kyi is a bit of a thought crime book. A situation where the police are trying to find out who the murder is. The teenagers who attended a house party are questioned after it turns into the scene of a brutal murder. In this small town of 5,000 people, these teenagers do everything they can to either cover up what happened or create vivid fantasies about what happened. Jen, the main character, works as a local reporter for the school's television news program. She was, ironically, one of the teens at the party. Though she did not witness the murder, Jen has many details about what happened that she keeps hidden from the police and her father. Finally, three suspects are being investigated. Ross has a past of misbehavior, a bad temper, and a steroid addiction. Nate is Ross' friend and attended the party with him. Jerome, the main character's boyfriend, was also present at the party. Jen goes crazy as she considers the possibility that her boyfriend is a murderer. All three male suspects have recently been evasive to their classmates, raising serious concerns. Later, it is revealed that Ross and Nate threatened to silence the teen who lived at the party's house. The truth is finally revealed after secret statements are gathered, a boot is discovered, and strange behavioral observations are made public. The story unfolds thanks to Jen's reporting skills and the assistance of her cameraman. I really liked this book. It was a quick read that kept my interest throughout. The dialogue was fresh and seemed appropriate for teenagers.

[Racelyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

i love this book it swears a little bit multiple times per chapter but its very good i suggest this book to mature readers it does have a murder involved but that what makes it suspenseful and makes you want to keep on reading i dont know if its a gfb for you but its a beyond great for me.

[Gena Lambert · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this young adult story about a teen trying to solve a mystery while coming to terms with doing the right thing. While doing this, risking a relationship with a boy she loved. I love how smooth the writing was, and it had such an engaging, but predictive storyline. I loved this book! I also enjoyed how this one didn't leave me off with a cliff-hanger like Viral did.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was only 100 pages but the plot was so predictable.

[Cheyenne Finchum · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was such a good book I like how it was so mysterious yet very weird

[Noah · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was an okay read. It is not my type of book but it was still good.

[Anthony Strzalka · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anthony Strzalka
8/9
Truth
Tanya Kyi
Orca Soundings
100 or so pages
8/2/09
8/10

Ian was a minor character in the book who had major importance. He had witnessed the murder of Ted. He wanted to talked but was threatened by Ross. Eventually Scott got him to talk and recorded the conversation.

Ian didn't even want the party in his house and he had no actual side for this case. He wasn't friends with the murderer Ross and he wasn't friends with Jen. Ross beat up Ian to show him what would happen if he told anyone what went down that night.

After he gave Scott the information he informed Ross that they were investigating him. Causing the fight scene at the end of the book.

[Colleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a great read for my 7th graders who struggle with reading. I'd classify this as a "High-Low" or High interest, low reading level book. Very easy to understand vocabulary with a dramatic plot. The friendships, relationships, parties, murder, and blackmail created some great discussions about youth behaviors and their influences.

[Brianna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Truth is a murder mystery. Ted Granville was murdered at a teen house party. The book is an okay book its really short and not much story line to it. I found that the book was very slow moving. Not a lot happened with in the book between when the murder happened and when it was solved. I would recommend this book to any one who likes murder mysteries and a quick read.

[Deep Brahmbhatt · Rating 2 out of 5]

“Truth” is an average book. The story of the book is boring. The story is about an adult dying at a high school party. Everyone seems to have a clue as to who murdered the adult, but nobody will reveal any information to the police. Jen, who went to the party, has her own hypotheses as to who killed the adult. Being a reporter for her school’s television show, Jen has a desire to uncover the truth about the murder. However, when Jen digs too deep, bad things start to happen. Violence starts to occur in Jen’s quiet, small town. Soon, Jen’s world changes in ways that she never would have thought possible. The main characters include Jen, her friend Georgia, her boyfriend Jerome, her dad, and her other friends Nate and Ross. Jen runs into many problems during this adventure to find the culprit of this crime, mostly because people do not want her to find the culprit. I didn’t hate or love this book. The characters were either flat or static, and the story was boring. I didn’t make any emotional connection to the story or the characters either. I couldn’t relate to any of the characters because I had never done or felt most of the things they felt or did. The book was humorous at some points, however. I honestly wish I could change the ending. It was just an anticlimactic ending that I wish I could spice up and make different. I would not recommend this book to anyone except little kids. I would only recommend this book to little kids because the book is an easy read. People older than that would be bored with this book and it would just be a waste of their time. It was overall not a very good book.

[Elena Pousada]

Lea Burgos
Yo solamente puedo imaginar como Jen se sintió en esta situación. Sus propios amigos eran sospechos de un asesinato y ella lo estaba investigandolo aunque sabía que podría conseguir evidencia contra ellos. Una persona así tiene mucho valor y morales fuertes. Si yo estuviera en esa situación no sé si yo pudiera investigar el asesinato. Creo que después de estar en una fiesta con alguien que era un asesino no pudiera salir de la casa por tanto miedo. En un pueblo tan pequeño donde yo conozco a todos, pienso que perdiera toda la confianza en todos. Quisiera escribir que si yo estuviera en esa posición yo haría lo mismo, pero creo que no tengo el valor que tiene Jen para ponerme en tanto peligro. También no sé si el asesinato me puede interesar tanto, creo que si mis amigos se ponen sospechosos me alejo y ya. No supiera donde empezar la investigacion porque si no supo la policía, ¿como voy a saber yo?

[Megan Anderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmm, okay. Let’s see…

All right, I’ll start here. At one point Jen mentions that Shakespearean endings are “all blood and last-minute honor” (97). I just had to put the book down and laugh because everything fell into place. I knew exactly how the story was going to end, but I also knew exactly why Kyi had set it up that way. She was going for a Shakespearean ending. She did a good job of it, too. The last thirty pages or so are really compelling reading. The pace seems to pick up out of nowhere, and it’s written in such a way that a seriously confusing action sequence played out like a movie on the page.

The rest of the book, however, was like an extra-tall lift hill to the top of the roller coaster.

Full Review at A Writer Reads.

[Darianny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Truth by TANYA LLOYD KYI is about a adult neighborhood is brutally mudered 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 is curious, she like discover things. The most important message from the book is that when you want do or discover something you can do. I like this book because is interesting and I like the things mysterious and I like too continue read or seeing when is something happened. I recommend this book people who like the mysterious thing because you was curious that who do the thing.

[Dhan Tamber · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this while waiting in the library at university. Got through the whole book before my ride came. Pretty predictable story line but honestly it did occupy me for an hour it was totally worth it 👍🏽 if you need to kill some time and have that feeling of finishing a book before you have to put it down, go for it.

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Translated into Spanish from English. (My Spanish is good enough that I knew what was happening but not to know how good of a translation it was)
There was a murder of an adult at a teen party and the police are asking questions but none of the students are speaking up. Jen Forester works on the school newspaper and is trying to find the answers too.
A serviceable hi-lo mystery from Orca.

[Nicholas Francis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would say that this book is good, but I can not compare this to anything personal in my life. It is tough to engage in a book that I do not personally understand because I have never experienced this. The Point of View in this book fits very well, it shows that the girl, Jen, is very involved in the mystery, and wants to prove herself to everyone.

[Tina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read. It is a little short (less than 200 pages) but the author did a great job turning this into a bit of a whodunnit

I like the main character, she is interesting and the story moves at a good clip.

[Emily Vanderslice · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easy Read Book

[Temesgen · Rating 1 out of 5]

crazy

[DB · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Ashlyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn’t enjoy this one as much as I’ve enjoyed some others from Orca Publishing, but it was still a quick read once I got into it and I will think about some of what was written for some time.

[Christine J · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick read. Good, entertaining story for a reluctant teen reader.

[Logan Bunch · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book starts out at a high school party that turns for the worst. Someone has come up dead in the upstairs part of the house. Throughout the book, speculations are raised about everyone who was involved. Who really killed Ted. The book also deals with high school drama such as relationships and other things. This book was pretty good.

[Lisa McManus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this young adult story about a teen trying to solve a mystery while coming to terms with doing the right thing - and risking a relationship. Smooth writing, engaging storytelling - loved it!

[Yobani Mendoza · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jen and her friends make a party at the klassen house. Ten granville was a neighbor from the klassen house. The klassen ask Ten if he could watch their house while they are in vacation. When Ten went to check the house he saw a lot a people he was trying to stop the party but he got kill the police when to jen’s house to ask some questions but she said that he did not saw anything because she was at the kitchen the whole time. The next morning at school everyone was talking about what happen at the party jerome did not talk to jen at school. jerome is jen’s boyfriend. After all that happen the police still does not have information of who kill Ten. Jen she is in the school news and she think that is a good idea to find out who kill ten. Later on the police fine some boots steps in ten blood. jen she start thinking about ross because he always was wearing boots but the next day that everything happen roos was not wearing the boots no more and he was at the party but after we saw ten died he was not there anymore and they ask him why he left early and he said he need it to do something. But at the end everyone find out that it was ross who kill ted. ross did not wanted to who to jail and he had a gun and start shooting the police and he got kill.

[Mauricio · Rating 4 out of 5]

el libro es un simple historia en donde jen, la protagonista descubre la verdad de lo que ocurrió en una fiesta en donde un hombre fue asesinado. algo que no me gusto de este libro es que fue mas acción y menos trabajo dectectivo. yo digo eso porque Jen ja supo desde el principio que Ross fue culpable por asesinaso, y no se podía encontrar qué alguien más podría ser culpable porque Ross era una persona mala que abusaba todo, el esteroide, los estudiantes, la cerveza. y también nunca descubrimos lo que paso porque Jen dice que uno de los niños es "techicamente" inocente. nunca vamos a saber si es o no porque no lo dice claramente la jen. si Tanya hizo que podría ser otra persona que no pensaremos capas de ser algo asi, luego el libro fuera mas interesante
lo que si me gusto del este libro fue que si da buen accion en un libro tan pequeño. podemos sentir el miedo que siente la jen de su ex novio y Ross y da mucho suspenso cuando ataca ross.
porque el libro lo mas es 108 páginas larga, voy a dar le un 4. si era un libro de 200 viera sido un 3 o 2 porque la investigación es muy simple.

[Tyler Loesch · Rating 2 out of 5]

Truth is the story about a murder at a high school party. Ted grainville has been beaten to death. The story is a mystery about who did it and why? The stories main character we follow is Jen. She is a normal high school student in a very small boring town. She enjoys reporting on things like a journalist. She is also friends with people involved in the case making her very important. She has to decide to help her friends or the police.
I think the story was boring and it has a pretty lame climax. The whole time you know who was involved and there is very little suspense. The characters are boring with no real character at all. They seem like things to advance the plot. I could barely remember the names of these people because of how forgettable they are. The only thing I liked is that the book was not really long because it would have been very boring.
I would recommend this book for younger kids who want a murder mystery book. This book is more for 5th grade kids with how simple and short it is. I overall would recommend getting a longer book with more to it.

[Taya Mills · Rating 4 out of 5]

Truth is about a high schooler named Jen who lives in a small town. The town is surprised by a random murder that happened at a party Jen attended. Jen tells her father and police that she didn't see anything suspicious, but the truth is that Jen saw the body and left. Slowly, bits and pieces of the truth come to Jen's knowledge, and as a director in the school's news, she seeks to find the real murderer. Her suspicions lead her to a classmate who has been known to have a bit of roid rage, but Jen is hesitant to pursue this route because this classmate is good friends with her boyfriend, Jerome. They soon break up though, and Jen seeks the truth with help from another fellow newscaster.

This book was pretty good. It caught my attention and kept me reading. It was a short book but it contained a lot of elements that kept me guessing. I was disappointed that the characterization wasn't that great, especially because it is a murder mystery so it is all about characters and alibyes.

[Xiao Wen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about a murder event, and the police wants to find out the truth. While the police is asking the witnesses, the protagonist, Jen, is struggling whether to tell the truth or not. Struggling whether to say something or not is a huge problem that face by many people in our society today, because a large amount of people are doing the same thing that Jen does, which they list out the consequences in their mind of both to tell and not to tell. However, this is not really helping to decide because everything gets more confusing afterward. Also, Jen did not tell the truth at first is because she wants to protect her friends, and in the society today, people usually hide the truth is because they do not want to hurt anyone.

[Nikki Keegan · Rating 4 out of 5]

With a 3.2 reading level, Truth is a high interest book for high school students with a low reading level. I would definitely recommend this book to high school or middle school students who enjoy reading about high school drama and enjoy a good mystery. The story focuses on Jen, a high school student who is a news-reporter for her school's news-broadcast. After a man is found murdered at a party, all of the students are scared to tell the police anything. Jen is put in charge of covering the murder investigation and finds herself deeply involved in the drama when her camera man ends up in the hospital. Does she continue to seek the truth and risk losing her boyfriend and possible violence or avoid danger by ignoring all of the clues she keeps uncovering?