The Truth About White Lies is one of those books that frustrates because that’s the point. It’s a story that seeks to try to dismantle white privilege from the perspective of a white girl. The ways that breaking down our own privilege is a process that takes time, that requires a moment. I think this book is fantastic for white teens who are on their own journey. Keep reading this book review for my full thoughts.
Summary
Shania never thinks much about being white. But after her beloved grandmother passes, she moves to the gentrifying town of Blue Rock and is thrust into Bard, the city’s wealthiest private school. At Bard, race is both invisible and hypervisible, and Shania’s new friends are split on what they see. There’s Catherine, the school’s queen bee, who unexpectedly takes Shania under her wing. Then there’s Prescott, the golden boy who seems perfect…except for the disturbing rumors about an altercation he had with a Black student who left the school.
But Prescott isn’t the only one with secrets. As Shania grieves for the grandmother she idolized, she realizes her family roots stretch far back into Blue Rock’s history. When the truth comes to light, Shania will have to make a choice and face the violence of her silence.
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the author. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
TW: racism, fatphobia, islamaphobia, homophobia
The Truth About White Lies is a book that was not written for me. It’s written for white teens who are at the beginning of their journey. At the stage where they feel that pit of the stomach feeling that a comment is wrong, that a joke isn’t funny, but aren’t yet at the point of speaking up. Of knowing and putting into words why it isn’t funny. To seeing the ways they benefit from their skin color in a world that judges based on appearance. Because to not be aware of your skin color is very much an experience only for certain people.
So while Shania can be a frustrating character, part of that is precisely the point. Because that feeling already can examine the bystander effects, the ways she doesn’t understand why ‘it always has to be about white people’. She’s at the beginning moments. And where The Truth About White Lies excels is by illustrating a story where Shania has to truly reckon with her privilege, to allow what others are saying in, and to have her moment of understanding.
Not only that, but Cole does a fantastic job of never excusing the comments, of providing these clues and breadcrumbs we fail to see, and also dismantling the comments of white supremacy. To not portray a sense of white savior mentality or of glorifying this journey. Shania is very much a flawed human – like us all – in her quest for love and being ‘seen’, for craving closure about her grandma, and wanting so desperately to have friends. But the point about The Truth About White Lies is that we have to be responsible for our choices and we can chose differently.
Overall,
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That this idea of a ‘white lie’ has this false idea that it’s not hurting someone. When in reality there’s this web of lies that are holding up an illusion. How these white lies turn insidious quickly and pile up, hold up systems of oppression and plain old lies. All the instances of it being (white) people. The instances of being told a story, histories, and narratives with agendas. Assumed moments of the invisibility of white people as just people, whereas it’s always Asian people or Black people. The Truth About White Lies emphasizes that we can chose who we are, even if we can’t chose our family.
I hope that this book finds these teens. The ones are the beginning of their own journey, who feel that ache in their stomach, and that this book can be a step forward. Find The Truth About White Lies on Goodreads, Amazon, Indiebound, Bookshop.org & The Book Depository.