The Truth Project

Delia, a high school senior in Alaska, has achieved early acceptance to Columbia, so she’s not worried about the big senior project. She’s planning to mimic her older sister’s: get a DNA test and write about the results. Delia will differentiate her assignment by writing in verse, although she rarely shows her lines to anyone. Her project partner is Kodiak Jones, her childhood friend and crush whose slam poetry sings. But when the DNA test shows that the man who raised her isn’t her father, Delia is shattered. She’s always felt different from her family, and she can’t forgive her mother’s infidelity and secrecy; and reaching out to her biological father only adds complications. Debut author Medema brings the Alaskan milieu to life, including showing how Kodiak, who has Tlingit heritage, is seen as “trouble” after a few missteps in a way Delia, who’s white, might not be. Delia tells her story through passionate poems, texts, and emails that grow increasingly distressed as her obsession with meeting her biological dad leads to her letting down friends and lying to family, making for an effective exploration of identity, secrets, and what family means. Ages 13–up. Agent: Louise Fury, the Bent Agency. (Oct.)