The Truth Commission

The Truth Commission

By Susan Juby

As the subtitle explains, this is the story of "how three intrepid art students got to the bottom of one unexpectedly dark secret." Normandy Pale is a student at a prestigious art high school in Nanaimo,  Everyone has secrets, and rumours are everywhere.  Normandy and her two best friends decide to find out the truths behind some of the rumours, to varying degrees of success. Along the way discover more than they bargained for. Told as a work of creative non-fiction (complete with footnotes), this is a quirky, funny yet serious story about family, friendship and the realities of dealing with secrets.  

Book of the Month - August - Red Queen

Red Queen

by Victoria Aveyard

For 17-year-old Mare, life is determined by the colour of your blood.  Silvers have money, prestige, and special abilities.  Reds have nothing, and are destined to a life of servitude and military service, fighting a war that never seems to end.  Mare is a Red, and spends her days pickpocketing to earn a living,  When her best friend is conscripted to fight in the on-going war, Mare is determined to find a way out. But a twist of fate leads her to discover an ability she never knew she had.  

A Red with abilities?  How can this be?  In order to hide the truth from everyone, the king disguises Mare as a long-lost Silver princess and betroths her to one of his sons.  Of course things aren't simple - not everyone has Mare's best interests at heart.  Who can she trust?  And what about the family she left behind? What will become of them?  As she lives at court, secrets, lies and romance bloom.  

A nice mixture of fantasy, dystopia and romance. 

Other books like Red Queen:  Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo; Graceling by Kristin Cashore; Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi; The Selection by Kiera Cass