Tuesday, December 13, 2022

Honest June by Tina Wells - ADVISABLE

Honest June
by Tina Wells
. 240 pages. Random House. 2021. $14. 

Content: G. 

BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS - ADVISABLE

 AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE 

11yo June Jackson is a pleaser. She wants her parents to be proud, her friends to like her and her life to run smoothly. In order to do that, June finds herself telling half truths, fibs, even outright lies, because that's what she thinks others want to hear, and to keep herself out of trouble. Until she is visited by a woman named Vanessa who claims to be her fairy godmother. Vanessa tells June that she needs to stop telling lies, and casts a spell on her which makes her completely honest with everyone. She will only remove the spell when June has learned her lesson, and chooses the truth. 

I loved this premise! Tina Wells covers many different levels of honesty - June isn't honest with her parents about the difficulty she is having doing all the things they expect, she hasn't been truthful with her friends when they do things that bother her, and she hasn't been truthful with herself. A fun beginning to a cute series. Most of the characters including June and her family are black.

Lisa Librarian

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