How to Tell a True Story

by Tricia Springstubb

After seventh grader Amber’s secretive older brother rescues her from a devastating house fire, the community’s response proves that kindness is as complicated as family in this novel for younger YA readers.

There's nothing very special about Amber Price. She's not a star student, athlete or artist, and definitely not one of the popular kids. Her crush hardly knows she exists. At least, that's her life before. Before a fire destroys her home, before her older teenage brother Gage saves her life, before her classmates rally to stage a fundraiser, The Price of Kindness, for her family. Suddenly, Gage who was hurt in the fire is a famous hero and Amber is the center of attention at school. Everyone wants to help, everyone wants to be kind, everyone wants to tell her story. 

As Amber enjoys her new popularity, she keeps her worries to herself. Her parents are arguing more than ever, and her father has moved into an apartment while the rest of them stay with Amber’s aunt. And why, after he risked his life for her, is Gage keeping secrets from her? Then just days before her family will be honored in a special Price of Kindness presentation at school, she discovers how the fire started and faces huge moral  Is it wrong to tell lies to save yourself and those you love? 

The Most Perfect Thing in the Universe author Tricia Springstubb poignantly explores the way disasters impact family and community, painting a tender portrait of resilience and empathy in this young YA novel.

Genres: Middle Grade, Realistic Fiction, Young Adult, Contemporary, Fiction

304 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2025

About the author

Sister James Bernard, my first grade teacher, taught me how to read. Our class had 60 children (yes) and we went up and down the long rows, taking turns reading aloud. There was absolutely no reading ahead, which was torture. I was always dying to know What happened next? (though with Dick and Jane, the answer was usually, Not much.) As I grew up, I began to wonder not only what happened, but why, and much much later,inhabiting other people's stories wasn't enough. I began to make my own.

Reviews

[Lori · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. Tricia Springstubb, an author whose work I always enjoy and look forward to, has written her best book yet and I was lucky to get an advance reader copy! She captures perfectly the emotional roller coaster of adolescence (even for those of us whose house didn't burn down), and infuses this story of disaster, betrayal, and hard truths with poignancy, humor, and warmth. I loved it! A gem for middle grade readers of fiction that feels "true."

[Brit · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you Margaret Ferguson Books and Holiday House for the ARC copy in exchange for an honest review!


I read this with my almost 10 year old son. We loved the cover art! stunning.

The things he said he liked about the book: the way characters explained things and interacted were thoughtful and easy to understand. He liked the way the story progressed and the characters were likeable even with their own flaws.

Personally, I loved the storyline. I, as a 32 year old woman, did find some dialogue very juvenile or awkwardly worded at times, but that is also very appropriate for middle school level. I also easily figured out where the story was headed right from the beginning, but my son is still young and figuring out foreshadowing. This was perfect. I saw his brain working to piece together the hints about what may have really happened.

I loved the family dynamic and the struggles they went through together. I also thought it had a strong message about honesty and forgiveness. This is one of the first stories I have read with my son where he was wondering what was going to happen until our next reading time.

[Erin Cataldi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This middle grade story about a teen girl losing everything but her family in a house fire is heartbreaking and full of hope. Amber Price is used to having to worry about studying for math or if the cute boy in her class has noticed her, but when a fire upends her life she hardly knows what to think. Her older brother Gage rushed into the house to save her from the attic and suffered sever burns. Everyone is calling him a hero and wants to help their family. But some things can't be helped. Their dad's stress about the insurance, their parent's deteriorating relationship, the lack of cute clothes to wear. This contemporary novel will make teens think twice about what kindness and the truth mean.

[Sarah Ressler Wright · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good MG story about truth and messy families and navigating middle school. Definitely a good MG book for students and author is from Cleveland Heights!

[Lesley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seventh-grader Amber Price’s home is destroyed by, and her family’s life is disrupted by, a fire. Her father was at work, and her mother and little sister escaped; Amber’s old brother returned home to the burning house and ran in to save his sister from the third floor where she had fallen askeep. The family lost everything—but each other. “The fire didn’t care what it ate! Trash or treasure, it was all the same. The fire didn’t stop to ask ‘How much did this laptop cost? Whose heart will break if I destroy this sweet diorama or fry this helpless little hamster?’ Like the worst monster in the worst nightmare, there was no reasoning with fire. Until something stopped it, it kept right on grabbing things with its yellow-blue tentacles and stuffing them into its hot, greedy mouth.” (ARC 90-91)

However, the tragedy made Amber popular in the midst of changing relationships among Amber and her two best friends. And shy high-school student Gage became the town’s hero.

But this isn’t just a story of the effects of fire and navigating middle school, changing relationships, friendships, popularity, and a possible crush; it is also a story of kindness—the kindness of townspeople and especially Amber’s classmates who start a fundraiser for the family. “What if school wasn’t just about who was who and where you belonged? What if everybody had kindness tucked inside them, just waiting for a chance to show itself?” (ARC 113)

This is also a story about empathy and learning that bad things can happen to others and affect their behaviors. “Did bad things [like Lottie’s mother dying and Maxwell’s brother going to juvie] have to happen to you—you personally—before you could understand?” (ARC 97)

But most importantly, it is the story of truth and lies and when and why we tell both—and what really is the truth. “It seemed like nothing ever happened once. It happened again and again, depending on who told the story. But then how were you ever supposed to figure out the truth? Unless there was no single solitary truth. Unless the truth was as confusing as people, who could be good and bad, kind and selfish, brave and weak, familiar and changing, all rolled into one.” (ARC 271)

This is a valuable story—with a bit of mystery to keep readers interested—that will speak to readers and cause them to consider and reflect on the stories in their lives and how they would, or could, be told. As a whole-class or book club text, it will generate deep discussion and even debate.

[Stephanie Bange · Rating 5 out of 5]

Springstubb's new middle grade novel is a suspense-filled, compelling read. (I read it in one day! Could not put it down...)

Amber blends in with the other faces at her middle school, that is, until her brother rescues her from their burning house and saves her life. Then she becomes the center of attention for everyone at school, dealing with this new norm of "instant celebrity" and juggling the big changes going on at home. It is about kindness in adversity and how the secrets we keep can can hurt those we love most - our family.

Springstubb has her finger on what things are important to middle grade kids - as they are in the process of trying to figure out what kind of person they are and how they fit into this great big world. Told from Amber's point of view, the reader picks up details regarding the house fire as she learns them. She is the most well-developed character of the bunch, that is her circle of friends, her teachers at school, her aunt's family, and her immediate family. Like many storytellers, Springstubb starts slowly, allowing readers to get to know Amber and her family's dynamics. Then, POW! She hits the reader at each turn of the page with the realities of the house fire and how this impacts her family (by splitting them up and how the distance affects her close relationship with her older brother), her living arrangements (lots of people with differing personalities all crammed into her aunt's house, her relationships with her two best friends, and how other students at the school view Amber and her family.

I appreciated the nod to Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech in the chapter titled "Walk in My Shoes". Also the quote in the chapter titled "Not You" initially attributed to Mahatma Gandhi: "The day the power of love overrules the love of power, the world will know peace" and modified later by Jimi Hendrix: "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace."

Highly Recommended for kids who enjoy realistic fiction, stories about families, and disaster stories for grades 6-8.

[YSBR · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this sensitive and engrossing story, seventh grade Amber must navigate the shifting terrain within her family and among her friends after a devastating house fire. After years of saving money, the financially struggling Price family finally manages to buy a shabby, old house. Before they’ve even unpacked, the house catches fire; Amber is asleep and her older brother Gage bravely rescues her, ending up hospitalized with serious burns. At first, the story seems straightforward and the town and classmates rally, starting a Kindness campaign to raise money for the Prices. But as Amber learns more about Gage and about how the fire started, she’s called upon to keep secrets. The fire also exposes cracks in her parents’ marriage and coincides with changes in her relationship with her two BFFs, who’ve been a posse for years. Springstubb wisely balances these serious issues with plenty of real life details that add levity and warmth to Amber’s world: a semi-annoying little sister, the busy, messy extended family that shelters the Prices after the fire, a sweet crush on a cute boy, and a warm, caring language arts teacher who posts a relevant line from Keats outside her classroom: “Beauty is truth, truth beauty.” By imbuing Amber and Gage’s choices with real world consequences, Springstubb shows respect for her middle grade readers. This is a book that could inspire deep conversations about fact versus fiction and how the two may become intertwined. Subtle creative elements, such as the unique collection of nicknames that various friends and family members use for Amber, give the book a literary resonance, as does the lack of a tidy ending. The Price family is described as white. Link to complete review: https://ysbookreviews.wordpress.com/2...

[Steph · Rating 5 out of 5]

A middle grade novel that will most certainly cause tons of conversation about honesty, bravery, and family. Releases in April of 2025.


“The shelves of Aunt Nor's kitchen were crammed with jars of sauces, boxes of beans and grains. Who knew there were so many kinds of rice? Ditto vinegar? All of her pots and pans shone like new, since if there was one thing Aunt Nor hated to do, it was cook. My kitchen is a shrine to best intentions, she'd say, as she zapped frozen tortillas in the microwave or ordered Thai takeout. Someday, she'd claim, I’m going to use all this wonderful stuff. Just not today.”

‘ “Okay," she said. "Count on me."
"I always do."
She loved him so much then. ‘

“Anyplace we’re together, that’s our house.”

“Kindness is a gift you give to a person who needs it.”

“When I retire, there are things about teaching I won’t miss, but puzzling out the world alongside you children? That I will miss very, very much.”

“What if the only sure thing was that nothing was sure?”

“Carefully, gently, she touched her brother's arm. When all you owned got snatched away, when you lost what seemed like your entire known life-when that happened, it was like you were wandering around some strange, empty
stage, wearing a costume that didn't fit. You didn't know what role you were supposed to be acting. Who you were, what you were supposed to say.
But then. Then you looked again, and you saw the people who cared about you. They were sitting in the front row, leaning forward in their seats. Ears ready to listen. Hands ready to clap. Arms ready to hug.
But even bigger was knowing what you still had.”

[Tricia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm not exactly the most objective person to review this book, but I can't resist sharing this review from Lit Hub:

Amber Price’s older brother, Gage, saved her life. That’s how the story goes. When Amber is trapped inside her family’s burning home, it’s Gage who struggles through the smoke to rescue her, suffering serious burns in the process. The devastating fire becomes a story their entire town can’t stop talking about: Gage is a hero, Amber is suddenly popular, and friends and neighbors want to honor the Price family at a special event. But Amber holds a few secret truths from the night of the fire that aren’t part of the official story—and even she doesn’t know everything. In emotionally authentic prose, Tricia Springstubb asks readers to consider complex questions of love, loyalty, and what it means to tell the truth.

[Susan Dunn · Rating 4 out of 5]

When Amber's home is destroyed in a fire, she is surprised at her suddenly surging popularity at school. All of a sudden even the popular kids know her name - and the fact that her heroic older brother saved her life in the fire. But the family also now has nowhere to live, no clothes or other possessions, and no money since the insurance investigators are dragging their feet. The family is split up, with Amber, her mom and little sister temporarily moving in with Amber's aunt, and Gage and Amber's dad renting an apartment. Amber's classmates want to sponsor a fundraiser for the family, but as Amber becomes more and more uncomfortable with her notoriety, she isn't sure that's a good idea. And Gage is suddenly distant, and Amber isn't sure why. All she knows is that there's more to this than meets the eye...

[callistoscalling · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to the publisher for a gifted copy of this book so I could share my thoughts!

📖 Book Review 📖 Fire is an absolute force of destruction and from the ashes, we rise. How we choose to rise is our own story to tell, but the world is complicated and sometimes life is not so black and white. Tricia Springstubb writes a powerful mature middle grade/young adult novel with a gripping storyline that brings lots of moral questions and thought-provoking emotions. When seventh grader Amber’s family home is destroyed in a fire, they face not only the physical losses but the emotional turmoil from this unimaginable disaster. How To Tell a True Story draws readers into a remarkably heartfelt tale of rebirth, resilience, and reimagining the world after loss.

[Jan Raspen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this realistic fiction story of the after-effects of surviving a housefire would be a great book for discussion, so if you have a middle school bookclub, this could be a great addition. There is a sense of foreboding throughout the novel...seventh-grader Amanda was saved by her big brother (she'd fallen asleep in his bedroom on the 3rd floor of the house) as a fire destroyed their house. The family kind of fell apart afterwards, but the reader can see that trouble was brewing even before the fire. Amanda would prefer to stay hidden at school, but the story of the fire has thrust her to the center of everyone's attention. Everyone in the family makes mistakes in the aftermath of the fire, and some of the choices would lead to great discussions among middle schoolers.

[Afoma (Reading Middle Grade) · Rating 4 out of 5]

How to Tell a True Story is a compelling narrative about honesty, social status, and doing the right thing. With resonant themes such as integrity, friendship, family, and financial insecurity, many tweens are sure to find this book relatable and hard to put down. It would make a fine book club selection because there are so many dilemmas to consider. Hand to fans of The Kate in Between and No Purchase Necessary.

How to Tell a True Story is the September Reading Middle Grade INTERMEDIATE Book Club Pick. Read with us.

[Sydney Dunlap · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a poignant, beautifully-crafted story about the way disasters affect families and communities, after a house fire where the protagonist's brother is declared a hero and important and consequential secrets are kept, even within the family. This wonderful book goes straight to the heart of an ethical dilemma: is it ever okay to lie to protect yourself and those you love? The characters are well-drawn, and this book is impossible to put down. It is sure to spark meaningful discussion both at home and in the classroom.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amber is nothing special. She is the middle child, an okay student, and not athletic in the slightest. She is complete unnoticeable until the night that her family's home burns down. Reached from the fire by her older brother, Amber and her family are suddenly the subject of a lot of public attention. People want to help the Price family but this adds stress to an already stressful situation. Parent separation, an overpopulated temporary home, friend drama, and lies from her brother threaten to overwhelm Amber.

[Kathy Ewing · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heavy issues dog Amber and her brother Gage. They face hard choices about telling the truth and keeping secrets. Hard truths abound, and the kids behave like real kids--sometimes heroes and sometimes falling short. Like Tricia's previous books (Every Single Second and Looking for True, for example), How to Tell a True Story provides an emotionally true and satisfying story for the young person in your life.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

EARC provided by Edelweiss Plus
Excellent middle grade! Amber survives a devastating house fire, and now her family has to “pick up the pieces”. But as recovery begins, and relationships with family and friends are tense, there also seems to be part of the fire story that is changing. When Amber learns more, decisions have to be made about how to best move forward.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took me a while to get into this story because of the sensitive topic of the fire. I trusted the author on this one, that she would help the reader (and the main character) get to the truth. Seems like a good early middle school/5th-6th grade book and could be paired with Wonder as school stories that focus on identity, both self-perception and who the characters are among their peers.

[Fernanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was very simple and not overly dramatic, which there is nothing wrong with that. In fact, I believe this family dynamic can become relatable to some readers, such as myself. Although it was a very simple read for me I couldn’t help but cry at how things were unfolding. It was a very nice book that I took joy in reading.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quiet, but powerful book about truth, lies, friendship, family, and what kindness is and isn't. when Amber's family loses their house in a fire, everyone wants to help and suddenly be her best friend, but that isn't what is really needed, especially when the truth comes out

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Even though the pacing is a bit too slow for me, this is still a solid story for young readers with a valuable lesson - what is the difference between truth and lies, and the consequence that snowball from a lie that’s gone on too far.

[Wendy Post · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good middle grade story about the guilt we carry when we have something to hide. Good character development. Would the police actually prosecute someone for carelessly disposing of a cigarette that burnt down their own home?

[Vicky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed this bk abt Gage rescuing his sister, Amber, when there’s a fire. He becomes a hero, but Amber finds out he’s hiding something. What happens?

[Jen Nishi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid read. I liked the plot, I think it moved quick enough with good character development.

[Kristin Dungan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this story about family and friendship. I can't wait to try some of her other books.

[Gloria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great middle grade voice and Tricia's stellar ability to craft wonderful, multi-faceted characters who deal with real-life situations. A lot of kids will relate to this enjoyable read.

[Christina Getrost · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent realistic story, a sweet story full of emotions; good look at friendships and peer pressure and family dynamics.

[Tina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I appreciated the moral dilemma that Gage felt over the fire that burned down his house

[LS Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A realistic fiction book that contains just the right amount of sadness and trauma, without being overwhelming. Even the ending is not all rosy tied up with a happy bow, so it felt more realistic.

[Leonard Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well-written realistic parable. Maybe deserves 5*, but I’ve always been an escapist reader, so this would’ve been agony for me as a child and wasn’t exactly enjoyable for me even now.