The Truth Is

  • Interest Level: Grade 9 - Grade 12
  • Reading Level: Grade 8

Named one of the best YA Latinx books of 2019 by Remezcla and HipLatina.

A Bustle Book Club Selection

A powerful exploration of love, identity, and self-worth through the eyes of a fierce, questioning Puerto Rican teen.

Fifteen-year-old Verdad doesn’t think she has time for love. She’s still struggling to process the recent death of her best friend, Blanca; dealing with the high expectations of her hardworking Puerto Rican mother and the absence of her remarried father; and keeping everyone at a distance. But when she meets Danny, a new guy at school—who happens to be trans—all bets are off. Verdad suddenly has to deal with her mother’s disapproval of her relationship with Danny as well as her own prejudices and questions about her identity, and Danny himself, who is comfortable in his skin but keeping plenty of other secrets.

In her luminous, raw, and open-hearted exploration of identity, grief and first love, NoNieqa Ramos has created an unforgettable character in Verdad. The Truth Is offers a complex look at a brilliant, queer, neurodifferent girl, the mother who loves but doesn’t understand her, and a fabulously drawn group of street kids who can’t save themselves but just might save her. A brilliantly written breathtaking book. I couldn’t put it down!
—Michelle Ruiz-Keil, author of All of Us with Wings

A brilliant, beautiful, moving story of ecstasy and loss and tragedy and hope, The Truth Is demands to be read. The fast-moving plot bristles with literary and classical references, but the deepest insights—and there are plenty—come from the unforgettable observations and conclusions of its main character, Verdad de la Reyna, an unforgettably brave and complicated heroine who confronts profoundly disturbing, real-world challenges with the help of friends, both present and past. Nonieqa Ramos follows up The Disturbed Girl’s Dictionary with another superb novel guaranteed to break the reader’s heart before trying to mend it."
—Tom Wilinsky and Jen Sternick, authors of Snowsisters

NoNieqa Ramos’s un-flinching voice and writing style continues to cement her as a force to be reckoned with in the YA world.

—Mia García, author of The Resolutions

Format Your Price Add
978-1-7284-2308-1
$11.99
978-1-5415-6433-6
$23.99
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Interest Level Grade 9 - Grade 12
Reading Level Grade 8
Genre Young Adult
Category Diverse Books: LGBTQIA+, Diverse Books: Mental Health & Neurodiversity, Diverse Books: #OwnVoices, Diverse Books: Race & Ethnicity, Diverse Books: Social Justice, Diversity, SEL: A Self-Awareness, SEL: B Self-Management, SEL: C Social Awareness, SEL: D Relationship Skills, SEL: E Responsible Decision-Making, Social Emotional Learning
Copyright 2019
Publisher Lerner Publishing Group
Imprint Carolrhoda Lab ®
Language English
Number of Pages 272
Publication Date 2019-09-03
Text Type Fiction—Romance
BISACS YAF031000, YAF058040, YAF014000
Dewey [Fic]
Dimensions 5.5 x 8.25
Lexile 610
Features Author/Illustrator biography, Awards, Reviewed, and Teaching Guides

Author: NoNieqa Ramos

Raised in the Boogie Down Bronx, NoNieqa Ramos is an educator and literary activist. Their work includes the young adult novels The Disturbed Girl's Dictionary and The Truth Is, as well as the picture book Hair Story. They believe Halloween is a lifestyle, not a holiday. If you're in Virginia, you might catch NoNieqa getting motorcycle lessons from their soulmate Michael or going indie bookstore hopping with their preciosos Jandi and Langston. Connect with their works on www.nonieqaramos.com or on the Latinx collective www.lasmusasbooks.com.

Lerner eSource™ offers free digital teaching and learning resources, including Common Core State Standards (CCSS) teaching guides. These guides, created by classroom teachers, offer short lessons and writing exercises that give students specific instruction and practice using Common Core skills and strategies. Lerner eSource also provides additional resources including online activities, downloadable/printable graphic organizers, and additional educational materials that would also support Common Core instruction. Download, share, pin, print, and save as many of these free resources as you like!

The Truth Is

Named one of the best YA Latinx books of 2019 by Remezcla and HipLatina. A Bustle Book Club Selection A powerful exploration of love, identity, and self-worth through the eyes of a fierce,… View available downloads →

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June marks Pride month for the LGBTQIA+ community, and June 28 marks the anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion in 1969 that is recognized as a pivotal moment in the fight for LGBTQIA+ rights in the United States. If you’re prepping book displays, looking for titles to support lessons… View →

Awards

  • In the Margins Fiction Recommendation List, Co-winner, 2020
  • Bustle Book Club Selection, Winner, 2019

Reviews

Lilliam Rivera

“[P]ortray[s] the complex lives of young people who grieve but also reclaim hope against so many obstacles.”—Lilliam Rivera, author of The Education of Margot Sanchez and Dealing in Dreams

School Library Journal

“Ramos writes with intensity and poeticism in this fresh, painful, but ultimately optimistic coming-of-age novel. Notable for its up-to-the minute depiction of gender identity, sexual orientation, and race.”—School Library Journal

Michelle Ruiz-Keil

“In her luminous, raw, and open-hearted exploration of identity, grief and first love, NoNieqa Ramos has created an unforgettable character in Verdad.”—Michelle Ruiz-Keil, author of All of Us with Wings

Tom Wilinsky and Jen Sternick

“A brilliant, beautiful, moving story of ecstasy and loss and tragedy and hope, The Truth Is demands to be read.”—Tom Wilinsky and Jen Sternick, authors of Snowsisters

Mia García

“NoNieqa Ramos’s unflinching voice and writing style continues to cement her as a force to be reckoned with in the YA world.”—Mia García, author of The Resolutions

Kirkus Reviews

“A coming-of-age novel about coming out and overcoming. . . . [P]owerful.”—Kirkus Reviews

Booklist

“Ramos (The Disturbed Girl’s Dictionary, 2018) creates an #OwnVoices protagonist in Puerto Rican Verdad and weaves her many intense feelings together in a way that never feels forced, from Verdad dealing with PTSD after the shooting to falling in love to discovering and then defining her queer identity.”—Booklist