‘[Reinhardt] is a new voice bursting out…To be found under mounds of clothes in teenager’s rooms across the country this summer’.
Tell Us Something True
'I promise you’ll fall in love with River Dean.' E. Lockhart
Dana ReinhardtSeventeen-year-old River doesn’t know what to do with himself when Penny, the girl he adores, dumps him. He lives in LA, where nobody walks anywhere, and Penny was his ride; he never bothered getting a license. He’s stuck. He’s desperate. He’s lonely.
One afternoon he does the unthinkable – he starts walking, and stumbles on a support group for teens with addictions. He fakes his way into the meetings and begins to connect with the other kids, but when he finds himself falling for one of the girls in the group a delightful comedy of errors ensues. River wants to tell the truth, but he can’t stop lying, and his tangle of deception may unravel before he learns how to handle the most potent drug of all: true love.
Reviews
Big Issue
‘I promise you’ll fall in love with River Dean, even though he's a faker, a stalker, a non-driver, a bad dancer, a bad friend and a co-dependent mess. He’s funny and he’s true. His heart is smashed six different ways and he’s trying to mend it with tacos and lies – but isn’t that true of all of us?’
E. Lockhart, New York Times-bestselling author of We Were Liars
'A smart and poignant coming-of-age story about the awkward mistakes of adolescence’.
The Sun
‘A heartfelt tale that elevates truth over passion and friends over lovers. Reinhardt keeps it real. Much respect.’
Matthew Quick, author of The Silver Linings Playbook and Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock
‘A sharp-witted, hilarious, and addicting novel about being lost and discovering your best self. Highly recommended!’
Adam Silvera, New York Times-bestselling author of More Happy Than Not
‘Oh, how I love a novel where the hero ties himself up, Houdini style, and dives into his own predicament. Once again Dana Reinhardt has written a charming, compassionate, very clever comedy, and this one reminds us how a big lie can reveal the truth.’
Laura McNeal, author of Dark Water, National Book Award Finalist
‘Tell Us Something True is hope, it is humanity, it is original, funny, wrenching, real, and intelligently surprising.’
Beth Kephart, author of Small Damages, Going Over, and This Is the Story of You
‘When you start reading a Dana Reinhardt book, it’s like discovering a new friend. By the time you’ve turned the final page it’s like saying goodbye to your best friend, and I can think of nothing better to ask of a writer.’
Markus Zusak, author of The Book Thief
