From Goodreads,"In all the ways that matter, Mark is a normal kid. He's got a dog named Beau and a best friend, Jessie. He likes to take photos and write haiku poems in his notebook. He dreams of climbing a mountain one day.
But in one important way, Mark is not like other kids at all. Mark is sick. The kind of sick that means hospitals. And treatments. The kind of sick some people never get better from.
So Mark runs away. He leaves home with his camera, his notebook, his dog, and a plan to reach the top of Mount Rainier--even if it's the last thing he ever does.
The Honest Truth is a rare and extraordinary novel about big questions, small moments, and the incredible journey of the human spirit."
Goodreads - The Honest Truth
Awards and Nominations:
- Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Middle Grade & Children's (2015)
- Gouden Lijst for vertaald boek (2016)
- Missouri Truman Readers Award Nominee (2018)
I read this book about four years ago and absolutely loved it. This past school year we had some time and I decided to start reading it to my class. Just two pages in and they were absolutely hooked. They were asking me to read just one more chapter even when it was time to dismiss to go home. Needless to say, I'm so excited to share my review of this book.
The Honest Truth tells the story of a young boy named Mark who runs away with his dog Beau. He has plans to climb Mount Rainier with his camera and backpack full of supplies. Unfortunately, he is sick and this presents its own problems. The looming question in this book is will Mark and Beau survive and make it to the top or will they fail to reach the top.
I love this book and the questions that accumulate at every chapter. I read this to my 4th grade class and they constantly had questions. The questions started as "Why is he running away?" and "Where is he going?" to "Will Mark make it to the top of Mount Rainier?" and "Will Beau survive if Mark dies?" This book really got my students to question things happening in the story and we definitely got to work on predictions. I think it is so good for students at this age to work on questioning skills. They need to learn how to question things and try to figure out the answer. This book was absolutely perfect for this because each chapter felt like a cliff hanger and left us asking more and more questions.
I love the format in which this book is written. The book is written so that the whole chapters are told by Mark and the half chapters are told by Mark's best friend Jessie. Some of my students hated it and some were mixed, but the overall conclusion with them was that it shouldn't have been told by both Mark and Jessie. I think that it gave a great view of what was also happening at home while Mark was running away. This format was great for some of my kids because it was so different than what they typically read. By the time we reached the end the students understood why the story was told the way it was.
My biggest complaint was the language that was used in this book. I had to filter and edit as I read this book to my students because some of the language was unacceptable for 4th grade. I think that other vocabulary could have been used instead of the cursing that was present.
This book was well liked by many of my students and it definitely kept them interested and begging for one more chapter. They all hated the ending of the book because they felt like it was incomplete and didn't finish telling the story of Mark. My students said this deserves 4 stars and I completely agree with them. I give this 4 stars and recommend it as a read aloud for 4th or 5th grade or as an independent read for junior high aged students.
The Honest Truth tells the story of a young boy named Mark who runs away with his dog Beau. He has plans to climb Mount Rainier with his camera and backpack full of supplies. Unfortunately, he is sick and this presents its own problems. The looming question in this book is will Mark and Beau survive and make it to the top or will they fail to reach the top.
I love this book and the questions that accumulate at every chapter. I read this to my 4th grade class and they constantly had questions. The questions started as "Why is he running away?" and "Where is he going?" to "Will Mark make it to the top of Mount Rainier?" and "Will Beau survive if Mark dies?" This book really got my students to question things happening in the story and we definitely got to work on predictions. I think it is so good for students at this age to work on questioning skills. They need to learn how to question things and try to figure out the answer. This book was absolutely perfect for this because each chapter felt like a cliff hanger and left us asking more and more questions.
I love the format in which this book is written. The book is written so that the whole chapters are told by Mark and the half chapters are told by Mark's best friend Jessie. Some of my students hated it and some were mixed, but the overall conclusion with them was that it shouldn't have been told by both Mark and Jessie. I think that it gave a great view of what was also happening at home while Mark was running away. This format was great for some of my kids because it was so different than what they typically read. By the time we reached the end the students understood why the story was told the way it was.
My biggest complaint was the language that was used in this book. I had to filter and edit as I read this book to my students because some of the language was unacceptable for 4th grade. I think that other vocabulary could have been used instead of the cursing that was present.
This book was well liked by many of my students and it definitely kept them interested and begging for one more chapter. They all hated the ending of the book because they felt like it was incomplete and didn't finish telling the story of Mark. My students said this deserves 4 stars and I completely agree with them. I give this 4 stars and recommend it as a read aloud for 4th or 5th grade or as an independent read for junior high aged students.
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