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The Truth About Secrets
197 pages, Paperback
Published June 5, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 29, 2024
A deep dive into the torment of middle school, Ms. Witham's TRUTH shines as brightly as a Judy Blume saga, or a kinder, gentler WELCOME TO THE DOLLHOUSE.
A chronicle of one, lousy day back in the eighties-- when kids started gossiping that the achingly sensitive "Haze" was being raised by two moms-- Witham has an uncanny knack for recalling the tiniest human details-- glances, eye rolls, postures-- and how they can add up to a wrecking ball.
The present-day Ms. Witham, an acclaimed high school English teacher, can't resist breaking up the flow to impart life lessons, as if she's writing a self-help tome for kids or families struggling with similar issues. But as a man of a similar age, always at ease with myself and the rainbow of human sexuality around me, I can attest this coming-of-age memoir-in-verse is simply a literary achievement; funny, moving, honest, and every line impeccably crafted.
A chronicle of one, lousy day back in the eighties-- when kids started gossiping that the achingly sensitive "Haze" was being raised by two moms-- Witham has an uncanny knack for recalling the tiniest human details-- glances, eye rolls, postures-- and how they can add up to a wrecking ball.
The present-day Ms. Witham, an acclaimed high school English teacher, can't resist breaking up the flow to impart life lessons, as if she's writing a self-help tome for kids or families struggling with similar issues. But as a man of a similar age, always at ease with myself and the rainbow of human sexuality around me, I can attest this coming-of-age memoir-in-verse is simply a literary achievement; funny, moving, honest, and every line impeccably crafted.
June 10, 2024
Hazel Kight Witham's The Truth About Secrets deftly captures the horrendous, anxiety of being a middle-school girl rife with insecurities. It then raises the stakes exponentially with the added fear of being outed for having two gay moms. My heart broke for young Hazel, who loves her mothers and her unconventional family, but who struggles as most middle-schoolers do, with the stomach-dropping terror of not fitting in. Witham's skillful and authentic rendering of her adolescent interiority combined with her enormous wit, sense of humor, and compassion made me laugh as hard as I cried reading this tour de force of a memoir in verse.
July 26, 2024
What a beautiful journey Hazel Kight Witham takes us on through a few weeks of middle school as her family is outed in a time when there were not books like this for us to see the many rainbowed possibilities of family. Witham gracefully pairs poetry’s lyricism with the narrative of a young woman finding her way to a truth of self. Highly recommended for all middle and high school libraries and classrooms. Moreover her strength as a poet makes many of the chapters/poems ready to stand alone for study in classrooms.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews