The Ring of Truth

by Susan Beth Pfeffer

Revealing to her friends that a political figure has made a pass at her, sixteen-year-old Sloan Fredericks, the daughter of a well-known family, finds herself desperately trying to escape a scandal and public scrutiny. Reprint.

Genres: Young Adult

180 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

Susan Beth Pfeffer was an American author best known for young adult and science fiction. After writing for 35 years, she received wider notice for her series of post-apocalyptic novels, officially titled "The Life as We Knew It Series", but often called "The Last Survivors" or "Moon Crash" series, some of which appeared on The New York Times Best Seller list.

Reviews

[Nan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a truly excellent gem of a novel.

Sloan finds herself in an awkward situation--one that is clearly inappropriate, but it's hard to say just how bad it is--at her grandmother's famous annual party. Sloan's grandfather was the governor. She moved in with her grandparents after the death of her family in a car accident. Even though her grandfather has since passed, Sloan and her grandmother still live in the state capital and remain heavily tied to the local political scene. At that party, the lieutenant governor is drunk and pays inappropriate attention to Sloan when they're alone in a room together. The situation isn't that bad, but it just doesn't feel right to Sloan.

The next day, Sloan tries to make some sense out of what happened by telling her friend Justine at lunch. But Justine's other friends are there as well, and they don't believe Sloan at all. They only start to believe when Justine says that she had sex with that same man last summer.

Soon, the story hits the local tabloid, and Sloan and her grandmother hide out in the country. Justine soaks up the attention, but she's the only one that seems to enjoy the experience. The story has the entire city captivated, especially the politicians, because neither Sloan nor Justine are naming names.

This is an excellent novel that questions the nature of truth, politics, and our relationships with our friends and family. When is the good of the party more important than the well being of a teen? When is it OK to tell white lies to keep the peace within a family? What lies keep a friendship alive? When is the truth a lie?

I'm so glad that Pfeffer has been writing for years; I have so much of her backlist to read. This is a slim novel, and a fast read. I think fans of Ellen Emerson White's President Daughter series might like this book. While Sloan is nothing like Meg (and White's writing style is unique from Pfeffer's), they both examine what means to grow up in politics and what that means for the children of politicians.

[PinkAmy loves books, cats and naps · Rating 4 out of 5]

THE RING OF TRUTH is a dated look at how victims of sexual assault were once treated (and may still be in some instances). This book is probably more important for young people than it was when written, because it gives very true examples of victim blaming, lack of victim and minor privacy before rape shield laws were enacted.

THE RING OF TRUTH is how things were when I was a young adult, minus the wealth and political power of Sloan’s family. Like Sloan, when I was 16 an older man (what I thought at the time) made a pass at me. Mine was a little more involved than Sloan’s, but that doesn’t matter. One of her friends, whose mom is an attorney, recognizes the wrongness of his behavior and calls it assault.

Sloan’s custodial grandmother blames the teen for talking about the assault. She’s forced to recant for the good of the political party, although her grandmother believed the kiss happened, she tells Sloan that Sloan is less important than the governor, lieutenant governor and others who could be affected by her disclosure.

Though much of THE RING OF TRUTH is cringeworthy and may seem unreasonably harsh, from my experience it’s realistic.

[Danielle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Yikes, what? This story did not go where I thought it was going to go.

As I read Gran's explanation of why they should be protecting the elected official's career, for the good of the party, etc., I thought, Ack. That's so gross, and realistic. (It's really hard to me to read about protecting his wife and kids and etc.)

When Sloan's friend Justine reveals that she had stretched the truth about the "orgy" party at her dad's, and that she hadn't slept with the elected official, I was like, oh no, oh no, please don't make this a story about how we can't believe what girls say. Thankfully, Justine wasn't a *complete* liar, just a partial one. I also really wanted Justine to get therapy, and to get tested.

The cover had me waiting for the press conference for the entire story. I was relieved that Sloan stood up for herself and said she wouldn't lie, and that she realized that she didn't need to protect the party. But I was stunned at the contents of her speech! She apologizes to the guy who groped and kissed her! (Who is an adult and married and confirms she's sixteen before he does it.) Noooo. Now, I understand that he didn't do all that he was accused of, and that there was a "misunderstanding" because of Justine's lie. But, to be purposefully vague and cast doubt on everything and *apologize*?

The secret "your brother is alive" story line felt really out there and unnecessary. Even though I understand it was to establish that Gran wasn't always trustworthy, I think it could have been something a little more believable. (When Gran asks Sloan when she should have told her, I was like, the moment where you said "Your brother died" should have instead been the truth: "Your brother was badly injured." Not hard.)

It's certainly a look at money, privilege, politics, and the way our society protects predators over victims. Sigh.

Two stars because there was a really fun moment of dialogue between Tony and Sloan somewhere.