I liked this book. Thea was a very real person and the things she worried about are things I would worry about also. A bit of a general outline spoiler follows: The book angles to be a little dramatic, with each truth Thea writes revealing just a bit more of the secret she is hiding. What I liked best about the book is that Thea does indeed have a secret and she wants to tell it but does not know how to break her word and do so. Her code of honor resists breaking the oath even though she knows she was pressured into keeping the secret. This is very much a real-world problem and I liked how she grew and learned as she resolved this conflict.

Well written, good characters, interesting story...I was impressed by this book and hope to read more from this author as the opportunity presents itself. ( )

Thea Gumman is nearly thirteen, from Minneapolis, and a self-confessed liar. When she goes to her grandparents' in New Jersey for the summer, her mother gives her a book and tells her to write "true things" in it. She arrives to a full house and discovers she's going to have to pitch in with her younger cousins. One cousin, Jocelyn is convinced their aunts have a secret, and pulls Thea into helping her discover what it is.

I think this book suffered from my high expectations and my age. I probably would have liked it much more if I were in the middle grades, but I'm so used to reading adult and YA fiction now that I end up being disappointed with books that may be written for younger audiences. It's about ten years old and already feels a bit dated with references to CDs and the secrecy surrounding...well, the secret that Jocelyn and Thea want to spy out. I was much more interested in the past that comes out in the list of 100 truths that Thea writes, and having the dual storyline meant that neither of those were fleshed out as much as they could have been. ( )

It was ok, but it's fairly forgettable. I just didn't get all that caught up in it...it felt like there were good ideas, but it didn't hang together all that well. The "truths," the spying, the quirkiness of the family - maybe the story needed to be longer to let all those pieces simmer more so it melded together better. ( )

O.K. book. Interesting plot but I lost interest very quickly after a few chapters. ( )

Thea lies. Thea did not always lie, but for the past few months she can't seem to stop herself. When her mom gives her a notebook to write truths in as she goes to visit her grandparents, she doesn't think she can do it. Slowly, as Thea babysits her 8 year old cousin and write truths down in the notebook, the reader learns what drove her to all her lies and hopefully what she can do to fix it.