JULY 2018 - AudioFile
In alternate chapters, Eric Gansworth and Brittany LeBorgne narrate from the perspectives of two teens living on the Tuscarora reservation. Carson is a confident high school senior who wants to win Battle of the Bands and live out his dreams in the city. The author delivers his chapters in a gravelly voice with a lot of heart. LeBorgne’s clear and emphatic narration makes us feel young Maggi’s longing to be taken seriously as an artist and a young woman, as well as her need to find her place on the reservation after seven years away. Neither narrator provides a great deal of differentiation between the characters, but listeners will quickly be drawn into a realistic story of music, identity, and trust. E.E.C. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine
Publishers Weekly
03/19/2018
Gansworth returns to the setting of his 2013 novel, If I Ever Get Out of Here—the Tuscarora Nation reservation in New York. It’s 1980, and high school senior Carson Mastick reasons that, if he can get a band together, he can win the local Battle of the Bands and get off the reservation. But a racist store owner has just shot Carson’s brother, his shy guitarist is wavering, and he needs something to make the band stand out. When 15-year-old Maggi moves back to the “Rez,” Carson thinks she might be just the answer, for him and for the band. In alternating chapters, Carson and Maggi narrate this story of racism, bullying, protests, the complications of figuring out what love and friendship mean, and world-opening music, particularly that of the Beatles and John Lennon. Gansworth, who accentuates the book with his drawings, is interested in identity: 17-year-old Carson (light-skinned and thus what he calls a “ChameleIndian”) and his friends live within a Native American community, but they work and attend school off the reservation, and Maggi, who gets involved with a much older white guy, is an artist, but what she can make is limited by what tourists will buy. Gansworth vividly captures the difficulties of reservation life and showcases his thoughtful protagonists’ multidimensional interests and far-reaching aspirations. Ages 14–up. Agent: Jim McCarthy, Dystel, Goderich & Bourret. (June)
From the Publisher
Awards and Praise for Give Me Some Truth: An NPR Best Book of the YearA Boston Globe Best Book of the YearA School Library Journal Best Book of the YearA Chicago Public Library Best Book of the YearAn American Indians in Children's Literature Best Book of the YearA WNDB Best YA Book of the Year* "Gansworth's follow-up to If I Ever Get Out of Here has an incredible voice.... His characters are rich, well developed, and will stay with readers for a long time.... A stellar choice for YA realistic fiction shelves." — School Library Journal, starred review"Gansworth vividly captures the difficulties of reservation life and showcases his thoughtful protagonists' multidimensional interests and far-reaching aspirations." —Publishers Weekly"An intimate look at the teens' lives.... A rich, honest story of family and friends, of a Nation within a nation." — The Horn Book"An achingly real and honest look into the lives of teenagers pushed to the margins, creating and loving against life's headwinds. Sometimes hilarious, sometimes heartbreaking, always heartfelt." — Jeff Zentner, author of The Serpent King and Goodbye Days"From the first pages of If I Ever Get Out of Here, Dog Street was as alive to me as my own street and the people were as alive as my own. And when I finished, Dog Street sustained itself in my head as an ongoing place. I was so happy to have more time in a world that has become so alive to me. This book, Give Me Some Truth, teleported me in. I know I read it too fast. But it was like seeing the cousins you love at the picnic, how you just run to them. How you just want to hear everything." — Lynda Barry, author of The Good Times Are Killing Me and One! Hundred! Demons!Praise for If I Ever Get Out of Here:A YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults selectionAn American Indian Library Association's Youth Literature Award, Young Adult Honor A Junior Library Guild selectionA Cooperative Children's Book Center Choices pickAn International Reading Association's Notable Book for a Global SocietyA Notable Trade Books for Young People pick, National Council for Social StudiesA Horn Book Summer Reading List pickNational Book Festival appearance"[A] funny, poignant young-adult debut." — Washington Post"Eric Gansworth fearlessly lays down the truth about what it's like to grow up poor, and the strength it takes to hold your head high and find a way out." — Laurie Halse Anderson, author of The Impossible Knife of Memory and Forge* "Gansworth, himself an enrolled member of the Onondaga Nation, explores the boys' organic relationship with generosity and tenderness and unflinching clarity, sidestepping stereotypes to offer two genuine characters navigating the unlikely intersection of two fully realized worlds... And although Gansworth manages the weighty themes of racism and poverty with nuance and finesse, at its heart, this is a rare and freehearted portrait of true friendship." — Booklist, starred review"If I Ever Get Out of Here rings true with a sophisticated look at what it's like to be an outsider and what it takes to be a true friend... More than just engaging, [it] is the sort of book that can spark all kinds of meaningful conversation." — Los Angeles Times"Readers will appreciate the teenager's sharp insights into being an outsider and Gansworth's intimate knowledge of the prejudices and injustices inherent to Lewis's life." — Publishers Weekly"A heart-healing, mocs-on-the-ground story of music, family and friendship." — Cynthia Leitich Smith, author of Tantalize and Rain Is Not My Indian Name
School Library Journal
★ 03/01/2018
Gr 9 Up—Carson is a senior in high school. He loves his Chevelle, his imperfect family, and music. He dreams of starting his own band with his friend Lewis, whom he treats horribly, because Lewis lets him. Maggi has just moved back to the Rez after living in the projects in the city with her mother and sister for seven years. She's 15 and works with her family selling beaded work to tourists from a script her mother wrote for her to recite when she was a little girl. She dreams of creating her own high-concept art, but life at the fictionalized Tuscarora Nation reservation and the lack of modern conveniences of their home are taking its toll on Maggi. Carson and Maggi seem to have an instant attraction, but Carson soon discovers that Maggi has embarked on a relationship with 31-year-old Jim, a white man who works with her on her job who is not quite as nice as he may seem. Gansworth's follow-up to If I Ever Get Out of Here has an incredible voice. Told in alternating perspectives, this novel places readers right at the center of young adult lives in a reservation on the outskirts of Niagara Falls. His characters are rich, well developed, and will stay with readers for a long time. Lovers of his debut novel and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie will fall in love with this incredibly written novel. VERDICT A stellar choice for YA realistic fiction shelves.—Christina Vortia, Hype Lit, Land O'Lakes, FL
JULY 2018 - AudioFile
In alternate chapters, Eric Gansworth and Brittany LeBorgne narrate from the perspectives of two teens living on the Tuscarora reservation. Carson is a confident high school senior who wants to win Battle of the Bands and live out his dreams in the city. The author delivers his chapters in a gravelly voice with a lot of heart. LeBorgne’s clear and emphatic narration makes us feel young Maggi’s longing to be taken seriously as an artist and a young woman, as well as her need to find her place on the reservation after seven years away. Neither narrator provides a great deal of differentiation between the characters, but listeners will quickly be drawn into a realistic story of music, identity, and trust. E.E.C. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
2018-02-20
A 1980s Native American coming-of-age story grapples with the day-to-day details of teenagers' lives on and off the reservation.Wannabe musician Carson Mastick is approaching his senior year of high school, vacillating about whether to stay at home on the Tuscarora Reservation in upstate New York or pursue his dream of using his band as a way to get out. Fifteen-year-old Magpie Bokoni is dealing with the opposite situation: Her mother, who sells traditional souvenirs to tourists, decides to uproot the family from the city and move them back to the reservation. Magpie joins Carson's band as a way of settling back into rez life, and her love for the Beatles, John Lennon, and Yoko Ono is infused throughout the story. While Magpie's sister, Marie, is secretly dating an older guy she calls "Mystery Man," Magpie is dating her co-worker at the garage, a 30-year-old white man (although her conscience wrestles with the illegal relationship). As they gear up for the Battle of the Bands competition, Carson leads the group in an impromptu protest of a Gen. Custer-themed restaurant located just off the reservation, run by a racist man who shot and injured Carson's brother. As Carson's and Magpie's lives—narrated in alternating chapters—intersect, their stories will capture a wide audience.A classic teen novel, especially for Native youth and Beatles fans. (Fiction. 14-adult)
