A conservative teenager serves as a congressional page and begins to open her mind to different worldviews in this astounding historical novel jam-packed with the real-life events and issues that crowded headlines in 1973.
When 17-year-old Patty spends a year serving as one of the first female pages in the U.S. Senate, her personal social, sexual, and political awakenings coincide with some of the biggest upheavals in U.S. history, including the Watergate hearings, the battle to pass the Equal Rights Amendment, the Roe v. Wade decision, and the final days of the Vietnam War.
L.M. Elliott (Louisa June and the Nazis in the Waves) does a superb job of placing her readers squarely in 1973 Washington, D.C., filling the pages of Truth, Lies, and the Questions in Between with the music, art, books, movies, advertisements, and fashion of the era, alongside the political goings-on. Patty begins her year as an obedient daughter and dutiful girlfriend, becoming a page because it would make her "the perfect wife for a man of ambition," according to her boyfriend. But by the end of the year, everything she's seen has "opened her eyes to the fact things just [don't] feel right," not only about President Nixon's campaign tactics but also the sexist and racist attitudes she's long internalized.
Several pages of eye-drawing collage-style historic photos and documents introduce each chapter, giving readers a breathtaking month-by-month view of this extraordinary, electric time. Although Patty's father and boyfriend are somewhat one-dimensional, other characters are nuanced and realistic. Here is an uncommon YA title that covers new territory in a novel way. --Emilie Coulter, freelance writer and editor