Lies We Tell Ourselves

Gr 9 Up—As seniors in Jefferson High School's class of 1959, Sarah Dunbar and Linda Hairston have much in common. Both are strong-willed and smart. Both love to sing. Both are desperate to break out of the mold society prescribes for young ladies. Yet despite their similarities, the teens stand on opposite sides of the school integration debate. Sarah is one of eight black students selected to integrate the all-white high school. Linda hates the turmoil these students have caused in her community and truly believes the pro-segregation editorials her father writes for the local newspaper. But when they are forced to work together on a school project, Sarah and Linda slowly learn to respect each other and—eventually—become friends, and then something more. Set in Virginia, this well-paced, engrossing story features strong female characters living in the height of the Civil Rights Movement. Each chapter title is a "lie" that either Sarah or Linda tells herself as a defense mechanism against intense racial tension and strict gender roles. This format, along with alternating viewpoints, work well with the story. It's a beautifully written and compelling read; however, Lies takes on so many topics—racism, sexism, gender roles, homosexuality, child abuse—that the issues overwhelm an otherwise strong plot. There is frequent use of racial slurs and the "n-word," but it is true to the period. For another school integration story of female friendship for younger readers, recommend Kristin Levine's The Lions of Little Rock (Putnam, 2012).—Leigh Collazo, Ed Willkie Middle School, Fort Worth, TX