To Be Honest

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I adored the journalism side plot. It was so much fun to watch two badass, smart women following their passion and using it to take down and expose misogyny and injustice within the school system. I wish I’d had Savannah and Grace’s guts as a teen!

I love how Martin talked about body positivity and weight loss especially, not just because of an #OwnVoices standpoint, but also because she points out the issue with those extreme weight loss shows and really asserts her view of loving your body. Pro: I really liked the way Martin challenged the reality weight loss industry. Those shows have created unreasonable standards and expectations for people, and it was an interesting way to explore healthy/unhealthy weight loss as well as the impossible beauty standards that exist. No matter how many times Ashley tried to broach the subject of her leaving this summer, I would always turn my head and plug my ears. I couldn’t bear it then and suggested that we push off any sad or mushy conversations to the very last minute. I was a professional procrastinator in all things. Especially feelings. Thank you Nelle for making me realize these feelings are valid. This book will live forever in my heart. I grew up around so much dishonesty that it physically pains me to be dishonest. So much so that I've built a reputation for myself as being the person to go to when you want the truth. So when I read the summary of this book, about a man who grew up in an "honesty cult" and how he learned that sometimes, being dishonest is a good thing, this memoir became required reading for me, someone who doesn't usually read memoirs.This works because the Leviton who writes this book clearly doesn't see the world that way anymore. This is its own reassurance. Knowing he becomes an adult who can explain this situation to you and understand what his young self was doing wrong, why he frustrated and annoyed people, is a sneak peek at the resolution and means you never have to worry too much about him. Which is good, because otherwise I would have worried a lot.

I'm glad that eventually, Michael could find a way to balance his honest nature to have a happier life. The book actually encouraged me to be honest, to stay true to myself but at the same time, we have to be aware of the cost of telling the truth, which not everyone wants or needs to hear. Picture books about honesty tell stories illustrating the importance of being truthful and building trust-based relationships. You can use these stories to open up discussions with your students about why honesty and trust are important and the consequences of dishonesty. Ever since he could remember ("since he was born" is how he'd put it) Michael Leviton has always given and expected complete and utter honesty. Not just in instances that demand it but in every little thing. His parents were mostly to thank for instilling this integral trait in him from the very beginning along with the problems it seemed to have caused during every stage of life thus far. Questioning his school teachers' directives, making his peers uncomfortable and becoming a fixture to endless torment from girls was all in a day's work for Michael from kindergarten all the way into his thirties.

George- The love interest here who also happens to be Grace’s cousin. I knew this guy was going to be a favorite of mine the minute he corrected Savvy for thinking he wasn’t part of the family based on his more Caucasian appearance. George is also blonde, tall, and slender and very much Colombian. George is tutored by Savvy in math & all throughout we see him take a real interest in Savvy. Legit I wish I had a George in my life at 17 By the end of this book .....I became an all-around Michael Leviton fan: this book, his music, and his photography! Mom brought up a single finger, her telltale sign that you were about to get into an argument, but then she put it down. Almost like she remembered that we were here to drop off her oldest daughter for her freshman year of college and now wouldn’t be the most convenient time for a fight. Oh! Yeah. Yes, I do,” she said, breaking out of her stupor and grabbing the tape. She dropped it into Yael’s open palm. Wow, I enjoyed To Be Honest so much more than expected. This book had #ownvoices fat representation, excellent family dynamics, and a swoonworthy romance. It gave me everything I enjoy in a YA contemporary. Plus, it was thoughtfully done and deceptively deep, based on the brightly-colored cover.

The contrast between the view on weight & being fat of Savannah and her mom was drastically different, and this is probably one of this novel's themes that I think Martin did the best with. I did want a little more on this, but I think this was one of the themes that was most explored with Savannah's concern for her mother's health and trying to find the happy medium between boundaries and concern. She held me by my shoulders and forced me to look into her eyes. “You’re stronger than you know. Don’t you ever forget that, no matter how tough things might get. And, it’s not like I’m across the country. I’m only a few hours away if you ever need me.” Falling in love- meeting each other’s families- learning each others history was much easier than learning each other’s subtle beliefs, values, boundaries, expressive styles, religious differences, and emotional needs.To Be Honest had me laughing and I even shed a few tears. Savannah is such a smart and strong character who is doing her best to love her body." — The Book Dutchesses I don’t read “fluffy” contemporary titles very often; if I do, it’s probably either because it’s a random, rare exception, a nostalgic favorite, or diverse in some way that I can’t pass up the opportunity to promote the story and author. To Be Honest falls into that last category, and as soon as I heard about this book, I knew I absolutely had to get my hands on it. LOVE RELATIONSHIP - including extended families - are COMPLICATED! It’s amazing anyone ever stays together! I really loved all the female relationships in this book. She has such a lovely and healthy relationship with her sister and her best friend. Both are supportive and loving and even when they have an argument it's not the end of the world and they figure it out. In YA novels, we see too many poor examples being shown of strong, healthy female friendships. Women are usually pitted against each other and competitive, this is not the case at all in the book. It gives me the warm and fuzzies just thinking about it - please give us more of this! This is what we should be showing young people as the standard, not the exception.

Raised in what he affectionately calls “our little honesty cult,” Michael Leviton was ingrained with his parents’ core philosophy: You do not tell any lies; you do not withhold the truth; and you speak your mind always, regardless of how offensive or hurtful your opinions may be. For young Michael, this freedom to be yourself—despite being bullied and ostracized at school—felt liberating. By the time Leviton was 29 years old, he had told three (what most people would consider) lies in his entire life. This book has wit and did make me laugh many times. I listened to this through audio 🎧. That the author appears to have grown up and is ok is good news to report. His parents seem very nice, but believe in Absolute Total Honesty. I’m not sure that it’s okay to generalize an entire group of people’s eating habits based on a fast-food chain that happens to mention their state,” I said. That being said, Savvy really does love her mom & since it’s just the two of them home now, she tries her hardest to not cause friction or let her mom’s comments get to her. We follow their relationship & the very real fights that take place leading to days of silence. Maggie Ann Martin also did a A+ job of showing us Savvy’s mom & her battle with body image. I felt terrible for her mom because you know she’s a good mom but life’s curve ball really threw her off & her self esteem really took a hit. I wanted so badly to see her mom get the help she so desperately needed & be a positive role model for Savvy. It had a lot of side plots going on, most if not all of them highly underdeveloped because there was just not enough time spent in each one of them. This made the book lose depth, and it needed it as it was touching a lot of different sensitive subjects.To be honest...we loved the latest novel by Maggie Ann Martin! ... With her [Savannah], Martin has created a beautifully rendered portrait of a high school senior. She feels real and interesting, and like someone who you'd definitely want to drive around blasting Eminem with, if only because that's her favorite past time!" -- Hypable