A review by bkmuse7
True (. . . Sort Of) by Katherine Hannigan

4.0

The story of a girl who is always in trouble -- though the sorts of trouble seem more like mischief, to an adult reader, than real trouble (taking brownies from a neighbor's porch, releasing chickens at the county fair, inventing a "noncussictionary" -- so children can cuss w/o offending others, which includes words like chizzle and bawlgrammit.) But after years of being told she's trouble, Delly (short for Delaware) starts to believe it. Delly likes to make up words -- she goes on Dellyventures -- and puts other words together "horribadable." I'm still not decided between really liking these and finding them annoying. Some creative children might really like Delly's fancy words. When a new girl comes to town who doesn't talk and doesn't like to be touched, Delly befriends her. Delly struggles mightily with trying to be good (counting, putting herself in time out) and from her new friend, Ferris Boyd, learns to ask questions before she acts. But Delly's growing success is paralleled by the shadows she starts noticing in her new friend's life. Why does she not speak? Why is she afraid of the the green Impala? When is it time to ask for help? Though dealing with some serious subjects, this book is ultimately hopeful, for both Delly and Ferris.