The Girl Who Couldn't Lie

By Author / Illustrator

Radhika Sanghani

Genre

Funny Stories

Age range(s)

Publisher

Usborne Publishing

ISBN

9781805316749

Format

Paperback / softback

Published

09-05-2024

Synopsis

A fresh, funny story about white lies, brutal honesty and a bangle with special powers, from award-winning journalist and author Radhika Sanghani.

Priya Shah lies. A lot. She pretends everything in her life is perfect, so she doesn't disappoint anyone. But when she puts on a bangle left to her by her Ba - the one person she was always honest with - she finds herself unable to tell a lie.

Priya is mortified. She tells her dad she hates his cooking, she tells Dan Zhang about her huge crush on him, she shares her best friends' secrets at school. She can't get the bangle off, and she can't stop the truths pouring out of her. As more things go wrong, and Priya's truth-telling spirals out of control, can Priya learn to be honest without hurting the people she loves?

"Sweet and funny and full of heart." The i.

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Reviews

The Girl Who Couldn't Lie is a light-hearted and original story based on real life that will encourage empathy and understanding as well as raise a chuckle. Meet Priya Shah, outstanding teen gymnast and A grade student who thinks the way to keep everyone happy is to pretend everything is perfect - after all, her parents' mantra is 'never wash your dirty linen in public'. Unfortunately, keeping everyone happy entails a lot of lying. She can't tell her father that his cooking is disgusting. She can't admit to her parents (let alone anyone else) that their arguments are keeping her awake at night. She can't explain to her best friend that she will have to miss her bat mitzvah for a gymnastics competition. She can't even share how much she misses her Ba, the only person she could be honest with.

In trying to bottle it all up, she is in danger of cracking completely under the strain of her lies, until she puts on her beloved Ba's gold and ruby bangle. From one extreme to the other: suddenly, it seems she can only tell the truth. How embarrassing!

There follows a string of only too relatable scenes as poor Priya accidentally blurts out all kinds of mortifying things. She confesses to Dan Zhang that she has a massive crush on him. She tells the school bully she's scared of how cool she is. She even gives away her best friends' secrets. How on earth can she regain control of her tongue and her life? Thanks to her ADHD, Priya's little sister, Pinkie, is a human whirlwind but could her unorthodox approach for once help Priya find a way through her problems?

I loved the diversity of the characters in this book and the way that their differences all contribute actively to the story. The setting is contemporary and, of course, that means it will date, but, for 2024, it's a great recommendation for anyone who likes real life school stories - as a step on from Dork Diaries, perhaps. There's a warm-hearted and timely message about the importance of sharing problems and understanding that nobody's life is perfect. Best of all, though, it is funny - the writer seems to have written it in a state of infectious high spirits - so it should appeal to lots of young readers in upper primary and lower secondary school.

304 pages / Reviewed by Louisa Farrow, teacher