Title: Half-Truths
Author: Carol Baldwin
Author’s Website: https://carolbaldwinbooks.com/half-truths/
ISBN: 978-1-957656-85-4
Available on Amazon and both paper and e-book on B&N:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/half-truths-carol-baldwin/1147046554?ean=9781957656854
Reviewed by Linda Phillips,
author of CRAZY, published by Eerdmans
Kate Dinsmore, the teenage protagonist in this book you won’t want to put down, and the author, Carol Baldwin, have a lot in common. They both have a way with words and aim to use them to make the world a better place to live. In her first fiction YA novel, Baldwin has used her keen research instincts to give us an historically accurate and compelling picture of racial tensions in both rural and urban settings in 1950s North Carolina. Against a backdrop of KKK rallies and racial prejudice, Kate dreams of going to college and becoming a reporter. When it looks like her tobacco-farming family will likely not be able to afford it, her wealthy Charlotte grandparents agree to let her live with them to attend school. Kate knew living with her aloof and society-minded grandmother would be challenging, but she had no idea how the young, hired help in the household would change her life forever. Kate’s curiosity and observations soon lead to questions about her family tree. There are material items and story fragments in the house and among family members that don’t add up. Baldwin effectively uses the fragile relationship between Kate and her newfound cousin, Lillian, to illustrate the importance of truth-telling, especially across racial lines. I highly recommend this book to teachers and students for its accurate depiction of pre-Civil Rights and the Jim Crow era.
Linda Phillips is passionate about mental health and has written two novels in verse for teens relating to that topic: Crazy, Behind these Hands. She also has published one chapbook, Thoughts on Crossings. Learn more about her here: https://www.lindavigenphillips.com
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