The Secret to Lying

by Todd Mitchell

Overview

A teenage boy's self-reinvention gets out of control in a sharp, funny, poignant, and compulsively readable novel that gives a familiar theme a surprising twist.

James was the guy no one noticed -- just another fifteen-year-old in a small town. So when he gets into an academy for gifted students, he decides to leave his boring past behind. In a boarding school full of nerds and geeks, being cool is easy. All it takes is a few harmless pranks to invent a new James: fighter, rebel, punk. Everyone’s impressed, except for the beautiful "Ice Queen" Ellie Frost and the mysterious ghost44, an IM presence who sees through his new identity. But James is riding high, playing pranks and hooking up with luscious Jessica Keen. There’s just one thing awry: he’s starting to have vivid dreams of being a demon-hunting warrior, a thrill that is spilling over into dangerous and self-destructive acts while he’s awake. As he’s drawn deeper into his real-life lies and his dream-world conquests, James begins to wonder: What’s the price for being the coolest guy around?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780763656218
Publisher:	Candlewick Press
Publication date:	10/25/2011
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Lexile:	HL730L (what's this?)
File size:	1 MB
Age Range:	14 - 17 Years

About the Author

Todd Mitchell is the author of the middle-grade novel The Traitor King. The Secret to Lying is his debut novel for YA readers. He lives in Fort Collins, Colorado.

I was born in 1974, on Elvis’s birthday, in the ridiculously flat cornfields of Illinois. There wasn’t much to do and the sky was far too large. When I was six, I planted an evergreen tree in our back yard. I thought of it as my spirit tree. By the time I left for college, it was about twenty feet high and round as a dinner plate at the base. One night, a tornado touched down in our back yard and tore my tree away. I took this as a sign that I wasn’t meant to live in Illinois.

Since then, I’ve lived all over the place, including Galway, Ireland; Oberlin, Ohio (where I went to college); Minneapolis; Seattle; New Orleans; and Portland, Oregon. I’ve also worked a bunch of odd jobs—digging ditches, feeding wolves, teaching high-school English, teaching poetry to children, slinging coffee, and four miserable days of cleaning the fryer at KFC.

Currently, I live in Fort Collins, Colorado, where I teach creative writing and literature at Colorado State University. I live in a pointy green house with a hyper dog, extremely cool wife, and two wild daughters. I enjoy whitewater kayaking, mountain biking, dog wrestling, and surfing. I think squirrels are amazing. I dream of the ocean at least once a week. I think happiness in life comes from giving back more than you take away. I believe in the power of stories to change the way we think and act. And I spend a big chunk of every day alone in my basement writing.


My favorite book is always the one I’m working on. And I always think writing it will be simple, but it never is. That’s what I love most about writing—it’s full of surprises, agony, struggle, and occasionally blissful moments of discovery. If you’re interested in being a writer, please visit my website, toddmitchellbooks.com. I have several posts on writing.

Three Things You Might Not Know About Me:
1. For my senior prom, I dyed my hair green to match my girlfriend’s dress because she refused to go to the dance with me (she was prom queen, and she went with the prom king instead).
2. I have video proof of surfing with a shark. (It came up right next to me).
3. My grandfather invented Poprocks (and Tang, and Cool Whip, and many other foods—and no, he did not get rich off his inventions).

Editorial Reviews

In Mitchell's (The Traitor King) engrossing and entertaining novel, the trick to the titular secret, according to 15-yearold James, is to "believe yourself and others will believe you, too." And in his first year at an elite public boarding school, he reinvents himself by doing just that. A punk haircut and a few casual lies about getting into fights and stealing cars convinces his fellow students that he's a tough rebel instead of the milquetoast he'd actually been. James enjoys all that comes with his new life--from makeout sessions with sexy, punk Jessica to the pranks he pulls with his outsider friends ("I figured my place in the trio would be to play the quiet, brooding rebel"). James also engages in late-night IM conversations with someone named ghost44, who seems to know too much about him, and deals with a series of disturbing dreams in which he's forced to confront his internal demons. Mitchell paints a vivid picture of teenage social and mental health issues, neither overdramatizing nor understating their impact, and the result is a great read. Ages 14-up. (June)

Publishers Weekly

Gr 9–11—In his old high school James, 15, was unremarkable, "the guy no one noticed." When he's offered a scholarship to a public boarding school for intellectually gifted students, he accepts. He is done being a dull, boring nobody and sees ASMA (American Science and Mathematics Academy) as a chance to reinvent himself. How hard could it be to impress a bunch of overachieving nerds and geeks? With purple spiked hair, grunge clothes, and a few little lies, James has most of them convinced he's from the wild side, a street-fighting punk with pyromaniac tendencies. His scars help propagate the tough-guy image, though they are real, and self-inflicted. James's character is compelling as he straddles the line between fantasy and reality, builds friendships, pulls off outrageous pranks, and deals with the angst of first love. He and his friends are real teens—funny, intelligent, and still a bit vulnerable. Sensitive readers will make an emotional connection with James and root for him to overcome his demons, both real and imagined. Teens will also relate to the poignant IMs between him and the enigmatic persona of ghost44, who tells James, "I can't be myself in person." This coming-of-age novel is imbued with wry humor and offers a thoughtful take on the importance of learning to live in your own skin.—Patricia N. McClune, Conestoga Valley High School, Lancaster, PA

School Library Journal

James Turner sees high school as an opportunity to reinvent his drab existence, but he begins to cut himself as a way to cope. In his dreams, James battles demons. In his waking hours an online friend questions his cool façade. Nick Podehl gives listeners a clear picture of James’s slow journey to self-awareness. Podehl vividly depicts boarding school pranks and dorm humor. Mitchell’s book is challenging to narrate. The opposition between James’s wry humor and his bouts of depression makes it difficult for Podehl to strike an appropriate tone. Further, the dream sequences interrupt the action and are underacted by Podehl. And stronger adult characterizations by both the author and narrator would better anchor James’s school community. With respect to production, volume levels are noticeably inconsistent, and the listener can hear breathing. Despite these challenges, Podehl does a credible job with an unusual novel of teen issues. C.A. © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine

APRIL 2012 - AudioFile

For James, a freshman loser with virtually no friends, reinvention comes in the shape of the American Science and Mathematics Academy, an exclusive public boarding school made up of nerds and geeks. He dyes his hair purple. He makes up wild street-fighting stories that awe his new friends. Pranks, stunts and dangerous trysts with bad girls ensue. Despite his new guise, James realizes he must confront the demons that give him nightmares and induce him to cut himself. When he meets Ellie, a beautiful, standoffish loner, he understands that the task is going to be much harder than expected. Mitchell tells a straightforward, from-the-gut story that mostly feels real, despite some hard-to-swallow moments at the end. His characterizations ring true, especially James's hilariously goofy dorm mates. Comparisons to John Green's Looking for Alaska can't help but be drawn, however, especially since the two share so many similar elements. Despite the fact that Green's work is miles ahead of Mitchell's, the latter's voice is definitely one to watch. (Fiction. YA)

Kirkus Reviews