True: Delly Pattison likes surpresents (presents that are a surprise). The day the Boyds come to town, Delly's sure a special surpresent is on its ...
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Jan 21, 2012
Susan
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Katherine Hannigan takes risks that I admire a lot. She allows her child characters to behave like real people, with the kind of honest emotions that aren't always endearing. IdaB was allowed to feel true rage at her circumstances, and to not get over it quickly. Delly, in this book, is allowed to be defensive and quarrelsome, and to deliberately wear blinders where her friend's trouble is concerned. And yet Hannigan does such a good job of getting inside her characters that you understand them
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Jun 16, 2011
Alison
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Sep 25, 2011
Alisa
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This book was a little hard to get into. I was not connecting with the main character at all. Finally, half way through the book, I started to like little Miss Delly Pattinson and who she was becoming. I wish I could've understood her sooner in the story, though. I wanted more of her by the end. As for the writing itself, I didn't love it. Granted, it is a children's novel. Perhaps too much hype after the author's very successful "Ida B". I still don't quite know how the title
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Feb 13, 2012
Lisa
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I went into this book with very high expectations since Katherine Hannigan's first book Ida B. . . and Her Plans to Maximize Fun, Avoid Disaster, and (Possibly) Save the World is one of my all time favorite books. True(...Sort Of) did not disappoint. I was so excited to see that Ms. Hannigan had written another book, I bought it the second I saw it online.
I love the spunk of Delly! She really helped me understand the "naughty" kids and how, most likely, they are not try More...
I love the spunk of Delly! She really helped me understand the "naughty" kids and how, most likely, they are not try More...
Dec 30, 2011
Elizabeth
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I'm not really sure what to make of this ... I had to force myself to keep reading because the style is just NOT up my alley, it's too cutsy and cloying. The plot did manage to suck me in, and I ended up keeping with it because I really did want to find out what happened. A girl who has difficulty with staying out of trouble makes a new friend who is obviously suffering from some kind of trauma, and, as these things go, both kids (eventually) find growth and stability as a result.
<s More...
<s More...
Dec 09, 2011
Gretchen
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The first third of this book was so hard for me to get through! I really couldn't handle the dialogue and all the made up words at the beginning, but as the book went on, the characters, and the story really grew on me. The end result being that I loved this story. Katherine Hannigan did a great job describing how the kids communicate without words and how sometimes people don't see what is really being said. I also love how she changes your perspective of certain events by giving you more infor
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Nov 08, 2011
Miz Lizzie
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Delaware (Delly) Pattison has a knack for getting in trouble. She doesn't mean to. All she wanted was to have some fun. Being bad makes Delly sad until she leans to mask her sadness with a hair-trigger temper and fighting. Then one day a very unexpected surpresent (Delly's word for a present that's a surprise) arrives in the person of Ferris Boyd, a girl who looks like a boy, doesn't speak, and is full of sadness. With the help of her tagalong little brother RB and her new friend Ferris Boy
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Oct 28, 2011
JennLynn
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Oct 21, 2011
Barbara
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Oct 18, 2011
Wendy
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Much better and more readable than I expected it to be, especially the first half, before things got melodramatic. I understand well the kid who can't seem to stop getting in trouble--that problem was just too magically-fixed. Would have been much better without all the cutesy made-up words, which added nothing to storyline or character.
One thing puzzled me: I couldn't figure out whether Delly was an African American or multiracial child, or a white child. I read her as African Ameri More...
One thing puzzled me: I couldn't figure out whether Delly was an African American or multiracial child, or a white child. I read her as African Ameri More...
Sep 20, 2011
Steve
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Aug 21, 2011
Rachael
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I loved this even more than Ida B. and that was wonderful. But this time, Katherine Hannigan really took on powerful messages in just such a beautiful way. I think all kids should read this one - I especially loved the handling of stuttering and mutism because it reminded me of the social difficulties that Carver faces from time to time with speech delays. Hannigan addressed abuse and kids that have wound up in trouble at school without really understanding why. In all these serious topics,
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Jul 15, 2011
Eva
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Delaware (Delly) Pattison is trouble. Not because she's bad, mind you, but because her idea of fun (spitting contests; teaching all the kids made-up cuss words that sound worse than the real thing; and on and on) drives adults nuts. And she gets called "bad" so many times that she starts to believe it, until she has gotten downright defiant by middle school and is close to getting kicked out and sent to a school for problem kids.
But then Ferris Boyd comes to town. Ferris i More...
But then Ferris Boyd comes to town. Ferris i More...
Jun 22, 2011
F.H.
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Review written by my 10 year old sister for IceyTween
There’s a new kid in Delly Pattison’s class. She thinks the kid's a boy but she doesn’t know for sure. Once Delly figures out the new kid’s name, Ferris Boyd, she also learns the rules. Ferris Boyd can’t talk and you’re not allowed to touch her. But Delly is trouble so how do you know she won’t touch Ferris? Becoming friends with shy and scared Ferris, Delly now knows that Ferris is a girl and that she’s afraid of a man in a green More...
There’s a new kid in Delly Pattison’s class. She thinks the kid's a boy but she doesn’t know for sure. Once Delly figures out the new kid’s name, Ferris Boyd, she also learns the rules. Ferris Boyd can’t talk and you’re not allowed to touch her. But Delly is trouble so how do you know she won’t touch Ferris? Becoming friends with shy and scared Ferris, Delly now knows that Ferris is a girl and that she’s afraid of a man in a green More...
May 01, 2011
Sherrie
rated it:
Most people would call this a quiet story. There aren't any epic battles between good and evil. No faeries, vampires or other magical creatures fill the pages. Yet each of the characters struggles to deal with a different kind of magic: the power of words.
Delly has been called bad so many times that she's starting to believe it herself. Instead of walking away from fights, she's causing them and breaking her mother's heart. Feris doesn't talk at all, burying a pain so deep and dark tha More...
Delly has been called bad so many times that she's starting to believe it herself. Instead of walking away from fights, she's causing them and breaking her mother's heart. Feris doesn't talk at all, burying a pain so deep and dark tha More...
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Aug 17, 2011
Allison
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A bad-girl story invites comparison to, of course, the great The Great Gilly Hopkins. The difference between Gilly and Delly of True... Sort of, is that there's no obvious reason for Delly to be bad. She's not a damaged foster kid. Her family isn't unstable or cruel. She's just a girl with very little impulse control, and between fun Dellyventures to be had and fights that need to be fought, Delly's found herself in plenty of trouble, from the principal's office to police cruisers. Finally, her
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May 23, 2011
Andrea
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Review as originally posted on Staff Picks Blog
Iowa author Katherine Hannigan follows up her bestselling debut novel, Ida B, with a powerful story of friendship, family and personal growth in True… Sort of. Delly Pattison was born with a smile on her face and a taste for fun. Unfortunately by the time this story begins, Delly’s idea of fun (freeing chickens at the county fair, stealing a canoe and so on) has landed her into trouble time after time. At eleven, she and her whole town ar More...
Iowa author Katherine Hannigan follows up her bestselling debut novel, Ida B, with a powerful story of friendship, family and personal growth in True… Sort of. Delly Pattison was born with a smile on her face and a taste for fun. Unfortunately by the time this story begins, Delly’s idea of fun (freeing chickens at the county fair, stealing a canoe and so on) has landed her into trouble time after time. At eleven, she and her whole town ar More...
Jan 16, 2012
H
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This is the story of Delaware Pattison (Delly) - a 5th grade girl who has always been trouble. At the opening of the book, Delly's sunny sort of happy trouble looks like it might be hardening into a smirking kind of trouble for trouble's sake. Delly's looking like the kind of kid who just might be starting to believe that she really is no good, so she might as well let it rip. Then a new kid comes to town, and the strange, mute child just might be the one to help Delly learn that she isn't "
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Aug 03, 2011
Caren
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May 30, 2011
Reader
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Oh dear me, no. Folks who disliked Hannigan's equally twee novel Ida B will do well to steer clear of this novel. Delly is a kid that's just prone for trouble. She doesn't mean to, but anytime she does something fun she gets yelled at. Told to shape up or she'll have to ship out, Delly meets Ferris, a completely silent girl at school who doesn't like to be touched. Through Ferris, Delly is able to work out some problems and help the girl in kind.
I'd been told that if you disliked H More...
I'd been told that if you disliked H More...
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Feb 02, 2012
Nadia
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Dec 15, 2011
Jess
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I'll be honest...I expected to hate this one. Or if not hate it, at least be supremely annoyed by it. I'd bought a copy for the library, but based on the reviews I read, I thought it would be one of those books I just wouldn't read. It didn't sound "distinguished" and it certainly didn't sound like my cup of tea. But I picked it up because it was on this year's Mock Newbery list, and I'm nothing if not thorough about mock awards lists (even though I couldn't attend this year). It
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Sep 02, 2011
Peg
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A quick read that unfortunately falls apart at the end. Hannigan takes on extreme misbehavior, bullying, stuttering, mutism, and child abuse--a lot to handle in a book for children. In many ways, she handles these tough topics well, sometimes using humor to ease tension and help readers get inside the characters' heads. She doesn't avoid making clear the foibles of several of the characters and how their actions or words can hurt. The resolution seems to wrap things up too quickly, leaving s
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Dec 04, 2011
Samantha
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Delly Pattison is 1 part Ramona Quimby, 1 part Gilly Hopkins, 1 part Pippi Longstocking, and 2 parts a complete individual right down to her own Delly-vocabulary! Character-driven from start to finish, Delly has to find a way to stay out of trouble and in the end to help the best friend she's ever known. Three-quarters of the book is fairly light and fun and focuses on painting the picture of Delly's small town life and the evolution of her friendship with Ferris Boyd, the new kid in town who do
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Nov 20, 2011
Megan
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What a great follow-up to Ida B! I had a hard time getting into the story at first and must admit that I found Delly's invented words annoying instead of endearing. However, I loved everything else about Delly from her tightly curled hair and tiny frame to the way her smile slowly disappears and she begins to react when it seems everyone is constantly disappointed in her. I think Hannigan has a real gift with language, and I love the way she can so easily create memorable and realistic charact
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Dec 21, 2011
Jackie
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Delaware Pattison (Delly) gets in her fair share of trouble...sometimes Officer Tibbets gets involved. Nothing major, but trouble nonetheless. Fifth grade is tough for her but she is waiting for a surpresent (one of many made up words that Delly uses to express her thoughts and feelings). This time, the surpresent comes in the form of a mute, skinny girl who moves into the old Hennepin Place with her dad. Ferris Boyd's dad, however, isn't around much, but once she sees the old green Impala pull
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Jan 08, 2012
Abby
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Fifth grader Delly has been T-R-O-U-B-L-E ever since she can remember. But when she meets a mysterious new classmate who doesn't talk and won't be touched, Delly's life is forever changed. Ferris Boyd helps her so much, but can Delly help Ferris when it's needed?
Delly's whimsical vocabulary and way of speaking was fun at first, but wore at me a little over the course of so many pages. It's a great story about a troublemaker becoming more self-aware and realizing that the world doesn't More...
Delly's whimsical vocabulary and way of speaking was fun at first, but wore at me a little over the course of so many pages. It's a great story about a troublemaker becoming more self-aware and realizing that the world doesn't More...
Aug 02, 2011
Hilary
rated it:
Ok, this one confuses me genre wise. It's more of a long "chapter book" than YA, so technically "children's literature" (and the protagonist is younger). But the topics handled in the storyline--selective mutism, child abuse, etc.--are very mature. So.
This had me getting that choked back tears feeling on practically every other page. Delly, the main character, is trying so hard to be a good person, but keeps getting told from the world how bad she is, that she star More...
This had me getting that choked back tears feeling on practically every other page. Delly, the main character, is trying so hard to be a good person, but keeps getting told from the world how bad she is, that she star More...
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Apr 13, 2011
Gwen the Librarian
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It's nice when we can leave an outstanding author alone for a while so she can craft another perfect novel. Ida B. was once of the most memorable and lovely reads for kids and now, her second novel is not a disappointment.
Dellie has always had an irrepressible spirit and boundless energy and sense of fun. Unfortunately, many things she sees as fun get her into trouble. After being told over and over again that she is "bad," one day Dellie begins to think she really is bad More...
Dellie has always had an irrepressible spirit and boundless energy and sense of fun. Unfortunately, many things she sees as fun get her into trouble. After being told over and over again that she is "bad," one day Dellie begins to think she really is bad More...
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Oct 15, 2011
Dana
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Oh so sad. But, a very well written story. Delly was a happy girl who just could not seem to keep out of trouble. By the time she was 11, she had begun to believe what other people said about her - that she was bad. She stopped being happy and just kept on being trouble. Until she knew a surpresent was coming. Instead of getting a surpresent, she met Ferris Boyd, a girl who looks like a boy, and does not talk and runs away if she is touched. Delly, her brother RB, and a boy named Brud, al
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