This Terrible True Thing: A Visual Novel

by Jenny Laden

Overview

In this heartbreaking multimedia debut—filled with drawings, poems, and journal entries—author Jenny Laden draws on her own experience to create a story of grief and transcendence, perfect for fans of Francesca Zappia and Jennifer Niven.

Danielle Silver is a Philadelphia high school senior at the dawn of the ’90s. Ever since her parents split up, she has known her father was gay, but she never expected to be hit with the bombshell that he is HIV positive. As he sickens, and AIDS starts to claim the lives of his friends, Danielle searches for silver linings while trying to balance paralyzing fear, grief, her social life, and schoolwork—capturing all the feelings as adolescence and some hard facts collide.

An Educator’s Guide is available: https://s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/www.blackstoneaudio.com/docs/This%20Terrible%20True%20Thing_Education%20Guide.pdf

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9798212877077
Publisher:	Blackstone Publishing
Publication date:	06/04/2024
Pages:	426
Sales rank:	652,596
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.40(h) x 1.30(d)
Age Range:	12 - 17 Years

About the Author

Jenny Laden was born in Philadelphia and began painting at the age of nine. She studied art and art history at Barnard College and received her master’s degree in fine art from New York University. She has exhibited in New York; Chicago; Washington, DC; McLean; Richmond; Miami; Philadelphia; San Francisco; and Berlin, and had work in multiple publications. After her father’s death in 1996, she became an HIV/AIDS educator in New York City and worked with C.O.L.A.G.E. (Children of Lesbians and Gays Everywhere). She lives in Philadelphia with her family.

Editorial Reviews

"A 90s nostalgia trip that, for once, doesn’t ignore the AIDS epidemic, but rather tackles it head on with heart and dignity, This Terrible True Thing authentically portrays the tension of living in two worlds—neither of which you feel you fully belong in…Witty, earnest, educational, and deeply cathartic all at once.”

Jackson Bird

A new visual novel set in the Philly area turns the author’s own tragedy into a tale of redemption…Laden has crafted an emotionally rich portrait of grief against a backdrop of change.”

bestselling author of Here for It R. Eric Thomas

A generous-spirited, beautifully human, elegiac first novel of love, family, loss, and the transformative power of art that will crack open your heart and make new room inside. I wish I’d had this book years ago.”

#1 New York Times bestselling author Libba Bray

With crisp writing, elegant illustrations, and characters who just burst with life and authenticity, Jenny Laden delivers a moving, finely crafted story that immerses you into the soul-wrenching early years of the AIDS epidemic. You’ll laugh. You’ll cry. You’ll love this triumph of a book.”

New York Times bestselling author of The Grand Esc Neal Bascomb

This Terrible True Thing is a brilliant blow-by-blow about what it means to love someone who adores you, and then lose them right when you need them the most. Art-love suffuses every page. There are many passages I wish I could have written…Jenny Laden’s witty voice and sharp powers of observation make for a unique, fresh, and important debut.”

acclaimed author of A Good and Happy Child Justin Evans

In This Terrible True Thing, Jenny captures the confusion and sadness of the dark days of AIDS, when the closet was still the norm and those who feared judgment were bound by secrecy. Through her intimate voice and illustrations, she powerfully conveys the experience of being a teenager caught between worlds: the straight world and the queer world, childhood and adulthood, secure love and incomprehensible loss. The novel is also about a young woman’s political awakening and what it means to be an artist not just of the world but in the world. This is a tender story, a beautiful story. I loved reading it.”

author of Fairyland: A Memoir of My Father Alysia Abbott

2023-07-13
A teenager in 1991 faces her father’s battle with AIDS.

Danielle, a senior at a prestigious New Jersey boarding school, is shocked to find out her father is HIV-positive. Though she tries to focus on her art school application and her potential relationship with classmate Marco, her father’s diagnosis impacts her life, even making her doubt the point of art. Aside from a modern usage of queer and the conscious invocation of retro music and technology, this book feels like it was written in the ’90s and sat collecting dust until now. The main character embodies the alt-girl artist vibes of the decade, with her short hair and dresses paired with Doc Martens. The story effectively captures the homophobia and fear of AIDS that permeated the era while also touching on HIV stigma. On the other hand, the way the author treats a trans woman character—including emphasizing her large hands and Adam’s apple, having the character drop her own deadname, and describing her as “sparkly”—might have passed for celebratory in 1991 but reads far less positively in 2023. The result is poignant and informative, celebrating art and individuality, while also feeling dated and failing to speak directly to queer readers despite being about the gay community surrounding Danielle. Black-and-white line art enhances the text. Main characters read white.

Very effective as historical fiction but falls short as a queer story. (Historical fiction. 13-17)

Kirkus Reviews