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A Novel in Verse
by Hannah V. Sawyerr
From the critically acclaimed author of All the Fighting Parts comes an empowering and defiant novel in verse in which a teen poet grapples with an unplanned pregnancy and determines what happens to her body in a world that wants to take the choice away from her.
Seventeen-year-old Truth Bangura wants nothing more than to know a life beyond her hometown. Writing and performing is her only solace in a life overwhelmed by a drifting relationship with her best friend, an emotionally turbulent home environment, and the reality that her below average grades make her true dream—escaping her mother's grasp after graduation—uncertain.
When Truth learns she's pregnant by her ex-boyfriend, she makes one decision she's finally sure about: an abortion.
Determined to move forward, Truth turns to the pages in her notebook with the support of her slam poetry team—including the poet with a voice smooth as summer jazz, who's been catching her eye during practice.
At an open mic night, Truth finally gains the courage to perform a piece that dives into her rocky relationship with her mother–and reveals the choice she never told her. But when a video of Truth's performance is posted online and starts going viral, her decision quickly becomes everyone's business–including her mother's.
Told through searing free-verse, journal entries, and interspersed fill-in-the-blank poetry prompts, Hannah V. Sawyerr's Truth Is reminds us there is always a choice. There is always hope. And there is always a way forward.
2025 National Book Awards Finalists Announced
Here's the list! Which ones have you read? Which are on your radar? Fiction : Rabih Alameddine, The True True Story of Raja the Gullible (and His Mother) Megha Majumdar, A Guardian and a Thief Karen Russell, The Antidote Ethan Rutherford, North Sun: Or, the Voyage of the Whaleship Esther Bryan Wa...
-kim.kovacs
"Sawyerr (All The Fighting Parts) combines fast-paced, unwavering verse poems with text messages, social media transcripts, and more in this stunning portrait of a teen in transition that earns all the snaps." ―Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"The book
deftly addresses restrictive policies
related to abortion access while
prioritizing Truth's talent, goals, and
growth in a humanizing and inspirational way. Writing prompts interspersed throughout the text support readers' deep engagement.
An unforgettable, dynamic, and
emotionally resonant novel in verse." —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
This information about Truth Is was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Hannah V. Sawyerr was recognized as the Youth Poet Laureate of Baltimore in 2016. Her debut novel in verse All the Fighting Parts was recognized as a William C. Morris Debut Award finalist, a Walter Dean Myers Award Honoree, a Rise Feminist Book Project Top Ten Title, and a Kirkus Best Book of the Year. Her spoken word has been featured on the BBC's World Have Your Say program as well as the National Education Association's "Do You Hear Us?" campaign. Her written word has been included in Essence, xoNecole, and gal-dem. She holds a BA in English from Morgan State University and an MFA in Creative Writing from The New School. Sawyerr lives in Los Angeles, California.
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