Nothing But The Truth: A Documentary Novel

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Patriotism or practical joke?

Harrison, NH -- Ninth-grade student Philip Malloy was suspended from school for singing along to The Star-Spangled Banner in his homeroom, causing what his teacher, Margaret Narwin, called "a disturbance." But was he standing up for his patriotic ideals, only to be squelched by the school system? Was Ms. Narwin simply trying to be a good teacher? Or could it all be just a misunderstanding gone bad -- very bad? What is the truth here? Can it ever be known?

Heroism, hoax, or mistake, what happened at Harrison High changes everything for everyone in ways no one -- least of all Philip -- could have ever predicted.

Customer Reviews: Read 663 more reviews...

5 out of 5 stars

So help you God February 1, 2005
27 out of 32 found this review helpful

Let's say you're a well-known children's author who wants to write a book criticizing the one-sided quick response nature of our media saturated society. And let's say that you'd like to show this nature in the form of a boy and the Star Spangled Banner. Now, there are two ways to go about this. The easy way would be to write a book in which a boy refuses to sing the Star Spangled Banner in class and his silent protestation is blown out of proportion and becomes a major national scandal. There are plenty o' books with this plot, or some mild variation. And while they are all well-intentioned, they're not particularly original. The more difficult method would be the one offered here by Avi. In this book you have a boy who is supposedly punished for singing the national anthem and his self-centered approach to this punishment ruins a whole lotta lives, including his own. Heard that story before? You will.

Philip Malloy is just your typical high school jerk. He goofs around, wants to be on the track team, and generally is as normal a guy as you could wish for. Of course, Phil's not exactly tops in his English class. In a clash of personalities, Philip tries to be lighthearted and silly when in the presence of Miss Narwin. Miss Narwin, on the other hand, is a truly dedicated teacher who tries as hard as she can to get her kids interested and serious in the great works of English literature. When Philip is disruptive and silly, she reacts strongly, trying to reach him. This all comes to a head when Miss Narwin is made Philip's homeroom teacher and asks him to remain silent (as per the school rules) during the daily playing of the Star Spangled Banner. Philip, who cannot try out for the track team due to his poor English grades, ups the ante by singing and continues to badger Miss Narwin until he finally ends up with a suspension. And all of this would remain in the closed sphere of a single public high school, were it not for the fact that the idea of a boy being suspended, "for singing the national anthem", is just the kind of hot topic the pundits love to play with. In the end, no one could predict the insanity that would result from a stupid boy just acting out.

The danger with a book like this is that it would be all too easy to strain credulity. I mean, the idea that America at large would get wrapped up in a debate as to whether or not a boy was "allowed" to sing the national anthem is a bit grandiose. Then again, high school has always been the symbolic battlefield, both in art and life, where real world conflicts are played on. Better still, Avi knows just exactly how to pull the strings on this puppy. Why does Phil's father push him to continue to act out in class? Because Mr. Malloy is being hounded at work and is feeling powerless personally (something he doesn't want Phil to feel). Why does the neighbor of the Malloys take such an interest in this topic? Because he's running for the school board and needs a hot button topic like this one to get elected. For every burst of press this story gets, Avi has a perfectly good reason for it in his back pocket. And I loved the characters in this story and how they reacted. If nothing else, Avi has a wonderful feel for the weaknesses of human beings. His villains are simply the kinds of people who hear the story they want to hear and proceed with willful ignorance, doing everything they can to avoid listening to the other side. I loved that the man running for the school board used Phil's act as a way to say that the school didn't need to receive additional funding for new computers since they weren't even patriotic. Beautiful.

The book is written in an engaging style as well. Part script, part play, the book's like a mature (and remarkably better written) version of "Regarding the Fountain" or (similarly well-written) Walter Dean Myers's, "Monster". It's as if you're reading a collection of transcripts and recorded diary entries meticulously pieced together by an interested unknown party. The result is a book that's as interesting to look through as it is to read.

"Nothing But the Truth" has one last element in its favor. It presents the number one best kicker of a last line ever put in a children or teen novel. Read the book and see if you agree with me. Read the book and see if you disagree with me. For crying out loud, just read the friggin' book. It'll a wonderful piece of subversive literature that every kid should be familiar with. Sweet sedition light.

5 out of 5 stars

Non-traditional story shows point-of-view is everything September 14, 2004
10 out of 13 found this review helpful

This book is a story told indirectly, through diary entries, letters, memos, news clips, dialogues, and telegrams. As the reader pieces together these different materials, the story of a controversial episode over the course of several weeks in a high school emerges. Freshman Philip Malloy is struggling in English class and homeroom with his teacher Miss Narwin. Due to a failing grade in her class, he is unable to join the track team, his greatest ambition and likely only route to college. In a fit of unruliness, Philip sings along to the national anthem as it is played over the PA for morning announcements during homeroom. Warned twice over two days about breaking the rule to observe "respectful, silent attention" during the anthem, on the third day Philip willfully pushes Miss Narwin's limits until she sends him to the principal's office where he is promptly suspended. When relaying the day's events to his parents, Philip tells only part of the story, noting that he was suspended for singing the national anthem. Outraged at this supposed affront to a young man's expression of patriotism, a local politician and the media catch wind of the story and spread the story - full of misinformation and factual errors - across the country creating a huge media storm, which eventually results in the end of Miss Narwin's teaching career and similar unfortunate consequences to Philip himself. The story examines the variations a mistruth can go through when filtered through person after person and illustrates how different people can have multiple perceptions and interpretations of the same event. The various types of material offer the reader several points of view and provide insight in to the story that none of the characters alone possess. This dramatic irony gives the reader a feeling of privilege as well as frustration as the events unfold. The resolution of the story is deeply unfair (though true-to-life) and may be unsettling and unsatisfying for many readers. Near the end of the story, the politics of education may be above the heads of some readers or simply dull to others. Some readers will find the non-traditional structure of the story hard to follow and slow to read. For avid readers, this book is a good tool for media literacy instruction, offering insight into how personally damaging misinformation can be and perhaps inspiring healthy skepticism of what they read and hear second-hand.

5 out of 5 stars

The Truth about our media-driven society July 4, 2000
9 out of 10 found this review helpful

Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?

What if you have not idea what the truth is? In this book, no one knows the truth, and that's because no one knows the true story.

Phillip Mallory hums the national anthem one day in his homeroom class...he is taunting his teacher because she gave him a "D" in English. That bad grade prevents Phillip from playing a sport...no one knows this except Phillip, and this lack of information sets off a chain of events.

The principal, Phillip's parents, his teacher, a local politician all become involved,and they all have their own agenda, but once again, no one knows the real truth(not just part of the truth).

So what exactly is the Truth?

5 out of 5 stars A Teacher's View: Almost Shakespearean January 21, 2000
8 out of 10 found this review helpful

"Nothing But the Truth" is better than all but a very few of the adult novels I've read lately. I'd recommend it highly to adults (my wife loved it too), and it's well worth teaching to the right age group (roughly grade 9-11).

Avi's approach to character seems almost Shakespearean to high school--teachers, students, administrators, parents, politicians--and shows how their different goals and biases keep them from understanding and the protagonists' minor but significant character flaws lead to grievous consequences that ought to induce fear and pity. (This might be a nice book to pair with "Julius Caesar"--the characters could be generally writes in a workmanlike, clear prose that shouldn't intimidate younger readers.

Based on the other reviews I've read here, and thinking students who are too young (7th grade is too young). (2) Students will need help in discovering that the characters behave the way they do because they see the same incidents in very different ways. All the characters think they're telling "nothing but the truth," but their various "truths" are contradictory. If you can get students to see this, it could be a valuable lesson about why real-life political issues are so difficult to resolve. (3)Students find the ending a let-down, so teachers have to help the students see why a more conventional ending wouldn't have been right for the book.

5 out of 5 stars The Whole Truth? August 1, 2001
7 out of 10 found this review helpful

Nothing but the Truth is written by Avi. Nothing But The Truth takes place at Harrison High in Harrison, New Hampshire. It's about a ninth grader, Philip Malloy, who gets a D in English class and isn't allowed to try out for track. By now he is very angry with his English teacher, Miss Narwin for giving him a D. This leads to a humongous conflict which gets Philip Malloy suspended from school for two days. Soon the story is all over the country giving a bad impression of Miss Narwin. Everyday the school gets letters, telephone calls and telegrams. Philip's parents and Ted Griffen (a candidate for the school board) do everything to make Philip look like an innocent kid who is just being "patriotic" and Miss Narwin just an old person who isn't fair. But the question is, is Philip really telling the whole truth? I really think that Nothing but the Truth is a very good book to read. I was really into knowing what was going to happen next, but it also bothered me, because that's not the type of books I read usually. I think everyone would like to read the book because it has a lot of action in it. The book really makes the reader feel all the emotions that the characters feel in the book. I recommend this book highly to anyone who is willing to sit down and read the book or anyone who loves reading books. I promise you, you will not regret reading this book because I know I liked it but I hope you do too.

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