Reading Shades of Gray in Avi’s Nothing But the Truth

Each week on NewberyTart, Jennie and Marcy, two book-loving mamas (and a librarian and a bookseller, respectively), read and drink their way through the entire catalogue of Newbery books, and interview authors and illustrators along the way.

On this episode, Marcy and Jennie talk about the 1992 Newbery Honor book Nothing But the Truth by Avi.

From the episode:

Jennie: That’s one of the things that’s really interesting about this book. The formatting and the way that it’s cut up, you almost feel like Avi assembled all this stuff and there’s no judgment; it’s just showing you all the parts. But it’s the good, the bad, and the ugly. There’s no filter on here or lens of “this is how you should see it and this is what it should look like and this is how you should feel about it.” Which I really appreciate.

Marcy: I do too. And it shows that even though I think there is a right side in this particular event, there is no innocent party. They’re all guilty of one thing or another. It’s very easy to see what flaws happen where. I like that this book is about perspective and perception, so you get to make your own mind up about who’s the most at fault. But everybody is at fault to some degree.

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Avi’s work spans nearly every genre and has received nearly every major prize, including the Newbery Medal for Crispin: The Cross of Lead and Newbery Honors for Nothing But the Truth and The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle. Avi lives in Colorado. You can learn more about him online at avi-writer.com.