New Zealand adventure -- Truth to Tell by Nancy Bond

Teaching Pre K-8, Jan 1995 by Hurst, Carol Otis

New Zealand adventure. Let's go from picture books to novels. Nancy Bond's Truth to Tell (Macmillan Children's Book Group, 1994, ISBN 0-689-50601-5) is a good one. Don't let kids be put off by its length--320 pages. It's certainly well worth the effort.

This is a fascinating story of a teenager, Alice, and her mother, Christine, who emigrate to New Zealand. Christine has dragged Alice there in order to make a new start, leaving a note for Len, her husband and Alice's stepfather, to follow when he returns to England from working abroad.

Christine is employed as a secretary by an eccentric old woman, Miss Fairchild, who is to write a history of the mansion in which they live. Her job turns to be more housekeeper and nurse than secretary, and it is very much in doubt that Len will show up. He eventually does, but he's a mixed blessing, to say the least. He is quite irresponsible, often leaving a mess for Alice and Christine to handle.

The truth Alice seeks is that of her true father. Is it Toby Underwood, the dead war hero that she's always been told was her biological father? Or is it Len?

The book is full of good full-bodied characters who are well worth knowing. Their seemingly inexplicable actions turn out to be very understandable. You'll be sorry that it's over when you're through.

That's it for this month. See you in February.