All of This is True by Lygia Day Penaflor

Imagine if your favorite author wrote a book based on your life. How would that even happen? Maybe the author moves to your town and lets you hang out with her. That would be amazing...unless the book was less than positive and exposed things about you and your friends that you didn't want everyone to know.

So this story gets a little confusing because at some point there is a book within a book within this book. Three friends (Miri, Penny and Soleil) fall in love with a book by Fatima Ro. After meeting her at a book signing, Fatima invites them to a book talk she is giving at coffee house. Of course, they go and that's when the real connection starts. Fatima invites them to her house, and it becomes a regular hang out for the girls.

I have to mention Jonah who was right along with the girls the whole time. He just moved to their school and was a new member of the group. He said he had never read Fatima's book, so he bought one for her to sign.

So Fatima's book becomes a guide for living for the girls. They start a group at a school to talk about the book and live by it's themes and quotes. Fatima totally encourages all of it. Fatima has a way to reach these young people so they reveal more about themselves. This is particularly true with Jonah who had to leave a very unpleasant situation at his old school. It seems Fatima is also good at manipulating people.

The story is told through interviews, blog posts and excerpts from Fatima's new book (the one based on Miri, Penny, Soleil and Jonah). The girls' friendship is sacrificed for Fatima to get her story. The structure itself (although sometimes confusing) makes the story unfold in a fascinating way.

For more info, check out the Indianapolis Public Library catalog and the author's site.