Tell It True by Tim Lockette

An unlikely high school newspaper editor learns what is most important in friendship, in journalism, and in life in this award-winning YA novel.

Winner of the Whippoorwill Award
A Junior Literary Guild Selection

“Through the act of bearing witness, Lisa evolves from reluctant student editor to a budding journalist…. readers are likely to turn the final page of her story with new perspectives as well.”
—Kate Messner, The New York Times Book Review

 “Wry, engrossing, even occasionally funny—right up to a gut-wrenching capper.”
—Kirkus Reviews, starred review

“Like the best journalism, Tim Lockette’s novel, Tell it True pulls no punches. It refuses to sugar coat the realities of being a teenager—family struggles, friendship, the feeling that you don’t belong—while also challenging readers to think about what it means to have integrity in a world that often rewards looking the other way. Laugh-out-loud funny and painfully real, Tell it True asks you to see the world differently—to give a damn.”
—Bryan Bliss, National Book Award Long-Listed Author of We’ll Fly Away

Lisa Rives had higher expectations for sophomore year. Her mom and dad are distracted, her friend Preethy seems to be drifting away, and Lisa’s school days feel like nothing more than a waiting period until graduation. But when a teacher recruits her to run the high school newspaper, Lisa decides to cover a “real” story—the upcoming execution of a local man charged with murder—and becomes a surprise news story herself, forcing her to learn some hard lessons about friendship and truth-telling. As she navigates the dilemmas and unintended consequences of journalism, Lisa finds her life—and her convictions—changing in ways she couldn’t have imagined. Tell It True will inspire young reporters everywhere with this very real story about the importance of speaking the truth in a world of denial and fake news.

Tim Lockette is a teacher, a former reporter for The Anniston (AL) Star, and a novelist. He has also written for Teaching Tolerance and The Gainesville (FL) Sun, among other publications, and has done extensive reporting on Alabama’s death penalty. He is the author of the middle-grade novel Atty at Law. He lives in Alabama with his family.

Author Residence: Jacksonville, Alabama

Author Hometown: Alabama