True…(Sort Of)

 

Delaware, Delly Pattison, does not  look like trouble at first sight. Her bouncy copper curls, small stature and bright smile suggest otherwise. True… ( sort of), a novel by Katherine Hannigan follows Delly on her quest to avoid trouble, and have fun along the way. Delly is far from average- she makes up her own vocabulary and dives into mischief without a pause, but she finds herself misunderstood by the rest of the world. All except for Ferris Boyd. The second Delly woke up that morning, she knew a “ surpresent” ( a surprise present) would be coming her way. When she is outside, the green Impala with a red trailer on the back arrives into town. Then she sees Ferris; a skinny girl with short cropped blonde hair, who looks more like a boy. But, the most remarkable feature about Ferris were her bright blue eyes, they held so much sorrow, yet how stunning they were made people generally think otherwise. At school, Ferris doesn’t talk, she only reads and writes, and you can’t touch her or speak too loud around her , or she will freak out. So, how could Ferris Boyd be Delly’s “surpresent” when she won’t even talk?

Brud Kinney loves basketball more than anything in the world. He dreams about basketball, he always thinks about basketball and he wishes that he was always playing basketball. Basketball is the only place Brud can feel safe. No one has to know about his fake two front teeth, or his stutter. That’s why he likes Ferris Boyd. Because of how she looks, Brud thinks that Ferris is a boy. So, when he first sees Ferris play basketball in her driveway, he thinks that Ferris is the best basketball player he has ever seen. But, because of his stutter his brain is unable to tell his mouth to keep quiet, so he can watch Ferris keep playing. He ends up cheering when Ferris makes a nearly impossible shot and Ferris runs away, thinking Brud is a stalker, rather than a basketball loving boy.  When something terrible happens to Ferris, Brud and Delly’s paths end up crossing in ways they would have rather avoided.

True… ( sort of) is a book that will always be enjoyed and should be highly recommend to anyone who loves reading. Katherine Hannigan’s writing style is extremely  detailed and all of her characters are developed precisely . For example, she describes Delly’s Hideawaysis ( a hide away oasis) so that it felt as if I was enjoying it myself.  Whenever I am reading this book, I feel that I am right there sharing moments with the characters. All of Hannigan’s characters are well thought out, they all have certain personalities and quirks that make the story more interesting. Whenever Delly is in a good mood, her older sister Galveston, always tries to ruin it. To annoy Delly, she always makes a snide comment about her being a troublesome child, and burdening their parents. So, whenever Galveston is in the process of telling Delly how bad she is, it guaranteed that Delly will become mad and throw a fit.  All in all, this book was very amusing and it kept me entertained the whole way through. With a constant turn of events and lots of different side characters, this book hooked me in and wouldn’t let me put it down. All the while, teaching me not to judge a book by its cover, and to give people like Ferris Boyd a chance.

Genre: Adventure

Author: Katherine Hannigan