The Truth About Alice: From the author of Moxie

Everyone has A LOT to say about Alice, and none of it good, but how much of it true? If the rumours flying around her High School and her tiny, claustrophobic, everyone-knows- everyone-else's-business, town are to be believed, then popular girl Alice not only slept with two guys at one party but also killed one of them through sexting while he was driving. And the rumours just keep spiralling out of control, writ large in black sharpie on the 'slut stall' in the girls' bathroom for all to read and add to.

Alice's story however is tellingly revealed in alternating chapters by four of her High School 'friends': Kelsie, her former best friend; Josh, a passenger in the car when it crashed; grudge-bearing mean girl, Elaine and Kurt, outcast and geek. As the four reveal all they know about Alice, they reveal their own motivations and insecurities, secrets and lies. Their interweaving narratives perfectly create the claustrophobic atmosphere of High School and emphasise the all-encompassing obsession with social hierarchy which dominates every High School - US or UK.

No character is blameless - each has their own credible and compelling story to tell and reason for acting as they do. Importantly, Mathieu explains but doesn't exonerate. Ultimately, the only person who knows the truth about Alice is Alice herself and Mathieu withholds her perspective until the very last chapter, cleverly putting the reader into the same situation as the other High Schoolers, building their own version of the truth and forming their own judgements based on rumour and hearsay and often outright lies. The ending is a hopeful one. The resilience and inner strength of Alice is astounding.

This is a tough-talking, hard-hitting, Melvin Burgess-style tale of stereotyping, slut-shaming and, at times, downright nasty bullying. This is not a story which will sit easily on the shelves in conservative schools. There is some strong language and several explicit references. It is, however, a story which should be required reading for older teenagers for its responsible and realistic consideration of consent, drinking, religion, abortion, eating disorders, jealousy, popularity, peer pressure and reputation.

Pacy and short in length, this is a book guaranteed to get those KS4 'can read, won't read' girls back into books. And they will have much to say among themselves about it, will identify with it and will recognise the characters in their own schools. This is YA fiction which treats teenagers like the young adults they are and illustrates the potential damage of spreading rumours and lies, showing how quickly they can get out of hand, ruining reputations and lives in the process. In a '#metoo' era, we need more books like this. Shying away from promoting them shortchanges young people and perpetuates an all-too prevalent problem in schools.

PSHE teachers at KS4, too, could find a host of discussion points within its pages for boys AND girls. Kudos to the publishers for the non-pink packaging. Another sharply perceptive and brilliantly witty story about slut shaming and the friend zone is The Exact Opposite of Okay by Laura Steven. 13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher offers an equally strong and similarly controversial examination of the effects of rumours. The multiple narrator technique is used to equally arresting effect in One of Us Is Lying by Karen McManus.

212 pages / Reviewed by Eileen Armstrong, school librarian.

Suggested Reading Age 14+