Nothing But the Truth (and a Few White Lies)

3.64 based on 295 reviews.

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Paperback Book

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Product Description

"Getting her fortune told by a Taiwanese 'belly-button grandmother' (who feels up her navel) instead of attending the spring dance is just one of the joys of being Patty Ho, a covertly snarky 'hapa' (half Asian, half white) struggling with her dual heritage. Patty's domineering mother is determined to make her a good Taiwanese girl. Gangly Patty, no 'China doll,' longs to be white like her long-gone father...readers will find a compelling narrative, and a spunky, sympathetic heroine. This book should enjoy wide appeal." -VOYA

Product Details

  • Media: Paperback Book, 241 pages
  • Publisher: Little Brown and Company (Apr. 30th, 2007)
  • ISBN-10: 0316011312
  • ISBN-13: 9780316011310
  • Dimensions: 5.56 x 8.20 x 0.74 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 0.56 lbs

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Customer Reviews

  • Book Rating 3 out of 5
    Read Reviews on Goodreads

    by Cyndy from Kent, WA | Mar 26, 2008

    Nothing but the Truth (and a few white lies) tells the story of Patty Ho, half white, half Taiwanese, and fully confused. As a girl of half Asian and half white ethnicity, I felt an definite connection between myself and Patty. What Justina Chen Headley does so well is to really capture the in between that I'm sure all biracial teens feel and put those feelings into words. Also, I admire that she didn't make Patty's story merely about finding her identity in terms of race but also in terms of her individual self. As with most books, there are a few lapses, mostly parts that feel rushed or genuine, but the rest of the book is too good to really complain too much about it. Be sure to place this book on your "too-read" list!


     4 people found this review helpful


  • Book Rating 4 out of 5
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    by Helen from Houston, TX | Aug 19, 2007

    I was avoiding this book because the protagonist has a Taiwanese mother and there's Taiwanese in the book -- it just hit a little TOO close to home in some ways.

    After I got over my Asian-mother baggage, I discovered this is really one of the most creative young adult books I've read in a long time. It wasn't just the self-discovery and coming to terms with the parental culture clash. I read about stuff I've never even heard of before. Definitely a stand-out piece that I'll remember.

    I found the protag's witty turn-of-phrases to be very creative but excessive. Turns out there was a reason for it. Hmm.


     2 people found this review helpful


  • Book Rating 4 out of 5
    Read Reviews on Goodreads

    by Andrea from Philadelphia, PA | Feb 27, 2010

    When a fortune-telling granny sees a white guy in Patty’s future, her overbearing Taiwanese mama has a few ideas for reversing the prediction: Patty will eat stinky tonic soup for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Patty will attend math camp this summer. Patty will meet a Nice (Taiwanese) Boy.

    Never mind that Patty is half white herself. But Mama considers marrying Patty’s dad the one mistake she ever made, and she’ll do anything to keep her daughter from repeating it. So as Patty’s white girlfriends look forward to a summer of fun, she heads off to Stanford for what is sure to be a month of torturous Asian geekery.

    To her surprise, some of the kids at math camp are actually cool, and she might even have a chance with Chinese hunk Stu. Things are looking up for this banana-split girl—but in order to feel truly whole, she’ll have to learn the truth about herself and her family.

    This is, first and foremost, a novel about the search for identity. Patty doesn’t remember her father, but with her long legs and big eyes, sometimes she feels like she has more in common with him than her Mama and older brother. And that’s hard to reconcile with the jerks at school who call her “Chopsticks.”

    Despite some painful moments, the story is carried by Patty’s humor and insight. (On Chinese foot-binding practices, she thinks: “Chastity belts for feet. If you can’t walk, you’re not likely to sneak out in the middle of the night, say to kiss a secret lover in the Quad.”) Any girl struggling to figure out who she really is will find the real deal in Nothing but the Truth.

    (Review from http://readingbee.wordpress.com)



  • Book Rating 3 out of 5
    Read Reviews on Goodreads

    by Jacqueline from Oswego, NY | Jul 30, 2009

    I always think it is interesting how themes seem to repeat over and over in books that I read close together even if I have selected them completely at random.

    I read this book following Sprout by Daniel Peck. Although it wasn't "blow me out of the water" good like Sprout, this book's continuation of the theme of finding out the truth about oneself, and the use of essay in both plots to further that theme, seemed almost more than coincidence, and greatly increased my enjoyment of this novel.

    Patty Ho is a Taiwanese-American girl with a strict mother, a brain full of smarts that she doesn't always consider an asset, and neither her white nor her Asian friends seem to understand what it is like to be her.

    Facing the possibility of a summer at Math Camp with a bunch of math geeks and an estranged aunt as her only companions, Patty feels that life really couldn't get any worse. The plot follows in a typical teen angst filled way with plenty of downs and a few ups to keep you reading.

    What makes this book better than the typical teen novel? First Patty is a well developed, likable character. Second, anyone can relate to the themes of personal growth and people not quite being who they appear to be on the surface.

    The book had a few flaws though. Patty's good friends, those who are Caucasian along with their parents, show a lot racist words and behaviors even though they are supposedly Patty's friends. Patty never says anything to them about it either out loud or in her thoughts as they are portrayed in the book. It didn't come across as real to me. Also, everything is just a little to perfect. One of the themes was that people are not necessarily how they appear on the surface, which is a great theme, but in real life, most people are at least somewhat like they appear on the surface, and it tends to take a long time for people to change or to open up about their secrets. I realize that the author wanted situations that carried along the theme and that since the novel only took place over a few months,the show of personal development needed to be sped up, but I think she went overboard. It would have been more realistic if there were a few more consistent characters and a slow down to the growth.

    All in all, I think this is a good book for those who like teen novels and recommend it as such.



  • Book Rating 2 out of 5
    Read Reviews on Goodreads

    by Hallie from Dublin, Ireland | Jul 15, 2009

    Initially the voice of Patty Ho, half Asian, half white and feeling out-of-place everywhere, was witty and enjoyably snarky. I loved her riffs on her Taiwanese mother's lectures and the parental boasting at her mother's Potluck dinners. Her feelings of being second-best to her Harvard-accepted older brother were easy to get too.

    Once she goes off to Stanford math camp though, the book began to get more disappointing. The wise-cracks which read so easily in the beginning began to seem forced and a bit relentless. Her roommate in camp starts teaching her to embrace her 'hapa exoticism' and everything becomes all about sexiness in an irritating way. Brains, being hapa, breaking rules (risking getting thrown out of the camp for which her mother has paid a *lot* of money) -- all about being sexy. It was also kind of a pity that the only truly nice white character was her camp counselor, who of course was engaged to a drop-dead gorgeous Asian girl.

    All that said, the good in the book was sufficient that I'm still going to try North of Beautiful.



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