The Truth About Truman School

by Dori Hillestad Butler

When Zebby and Amr create the website thetruthabouttruman.com, they want it to be honest. They want it to be about the real Truman Middle School, to say things that the school newspaper would never say, and to give everyone a chance to say what they want to say, too. But given the chance, some people will say anything―anything to hurt someone else. And when rumors about one popular student escalate to cruel new levels, it's clear the truth about Truman School is more harrowing than anyone ever imagined.

Genres: Young Adult, Realistic Fiction, Middle Grade, Fiction, School, Friendship, School Stories

176 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2008

About the author

Dori Hillestad Butler is an American author of more than 40 children's books, as well as magazine stories, plays and educational materials. Her first book, The Great Tooth Fairy Rip-Off, was published in 1997. She is known particularly for The Truth about Truman School, a 2008 young adult title focusing on the subject of cyber bullying, and for My Mom's Having a Baby (illustrated by Carol Thompson), which in 2011 appeared on the American Library Association's list of most commonly challenged books in the United States for its portrayal of conception and childbirth. Her 2010 mystery title, Buddy Files: Case of the Last Boy, won the 2011 Edgar Award for the best juvenile mystery published in 2010. Before becoming a children's author, Butler worked for three years as a page at a library.

Reviews

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Truth about Truman School was a total surprise.

I bought the book at the school's Book Fair for two reasons. It was marked $2.50 (and well within my budget) and the back cover said that it was about teens who decide to tell the truth about life in middle school, not the expurgated lies adults revel in.

Hint: When you get "nothing" as an answer to "what did you do at school today," you have been given the adult-appropriate response. There really are things you don't want to know about your teen's life.

Even though I recommended the book to a couple of students, I really didn't have high expectations, based on the selling price.

I was wrong.

Now, I may get a few phone calls or messages of concern about the "lesbian" references, but, frankly, if you haven't talked to your kid about lesbianism or homosexuality or gay feelings by the time your child is in middle school, then you really haven't talked to your kid about sex yet. It's time for the talk and this book is a good start.

But this book isn't about lesbianism (or sex) at all. It's about cyberbullying and using a computer responsibly and friendships and popularity and real life in a real middle school.

It's told from multiple viewpoints so it's not as girly as the cover makes it out to be even though, from my experience, the majority of cyberbullying occurs to and from the female population.

Some really good discussions could come out of this book and I would highly recommend it to parent-child book clubs. I also recommend that any parent of a middle school student read this. I'm definitely going to recommend it to others. I may even buy enough copies for a class set... or at least a small group for discussion.

[Adam James · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read The Truth About Truman School because of my middle school's librarian desire to use it as a school-wide text. Unfortunately, I couldn't whole-heartedly offer my support of the novel. While it is a very (very) realistic and bold look at the ramifications of cyber-bullying, the extent of the bullying is too intense for younger middle school readers. Specifically, the inclusion of the gay-bashing in the cyber-bullying is used gratuitously for pure shock value and harshness. Dori Hillestad Butler never offers any contradiction to the students' terrible homophobic behavior; she allows the insults to linger and fester, masquerading as mere bully-fodder.

To put it plainly - because of the way homophobia is handled in the novel, my students wouldn't view it as absolutely horrible as it actually is. Homophobia to Dori Hillestad Butler is no more disgusting than calling a child fat.

So yes, this book is painfully realistic, which is a positive. Unfortunately, unless the reader is mature enough to understand the disgustingness of the characters actions, then the reader may not fully understand the weight of it.

[Aaron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Middle school can definitely be a challenge with kids learning more about who they are and defining their place in society. That is really the truth, but it takes the adventures of a group of tweens at Truman Middle school somewhere in the American Midwest to show how troublesome that can really be.

Zebby has hopes of becoming a newspaper correspondent when she grows up, but after she is limited by the faculty advisor of the school newspaper, she decides to team up with her best friend Amr to start and underground one. They opt to do it online and set up http://www.truthabouttruman.com (a real site with supporting information relating to the themes in the book). The goal is to create a place where all the students of the school can participate by posting the real truth about the school. Amr and Zebby promise not to censor anything posted as long as it is true.

Zebby and Amr generally stick to the goals of the site as they write articles about some of the bizarre rules required of students at the school and even an expose about the school lunch program, but the real popularity of the site kicks off after someone going by the toggle "milkandhoney" posts a picture of one of the popular girls from a few years earlier when she was fairly chunky. The girl, Lilly, used to be really good friends with Zebby and Amr before she changed and became one of the "in" crowd.

At first it is a bit of a mystery as to who the picture is of because Lilly has changed to much, but it is just the start of things as milkandhoney has set out with the goal of really punishing Lilly for a past wrong. More and more things are posted by milkandhoney on the site, and even Lilly's friends start to get involved. Eventually, Lilly goes missing, making everyone really consider the horrible consequences of cyberbullying.

The story is presented in a interesting format. The students at Truman Middle School have to write a report for the language arts classes about what happened and their perspective on it, but Zebby and Amr have decided to use the site that caused so much trouble to let the kids really tell the story of what happened. They have taken what the kids have handed into the site to weave together the site.

Each of the characters gets a chance to have their voice heard including:
*Popular girls Hayley and Brianna,
*Lilly herself
*Amr and Zebby
*Lilly's boyfriend and football star Reece
*Trevor and Sara, two kids on the outskirts of the accepted student body
*and even milkandhoney gets represented through some anonymous posts after saying that s/he is one of the students, but doesn't want to state who.

What I thought was really great about the book is that Butler has really captured the voices of the age group. All of the kids are insecure and what has happened is, in part, a reaction of that as social Darwinism has taking over. Each student reacts in order to jockey for a better social position, and in the process of the events learn (hopefully) learn how to better treat those around them and act responsibly.

This story could definitely have been heavy handed with the message, but that does not happen. Milkandhoney is not portrayed as evil, but as just one of the students who took certain actions in order to feel better about themselves and to avenge something Lilly had done in the past. Ironically, milkandhoney is surprised that achieving the goal was not necessarily as rewarding as expected.

Many adults like to pretend that bullying and this side of our kids does not happen. While it is totally wrong, I think it is part of the learning process of the age group. The adults in the story play minor roles, but I think that is realistic as many of the adults don't realize that things often get to this level of hostility. In some ways, I don't think we want to see that it can happen. When it does, we seem totally shocked, but it is really our ignorance.

This would make a great discussion book for both young and old. As Zebby says in the end, the truth is that school can really stink.

[Ken · Rating 4 out of 5]

High appeal for tweeners here. Two friends, a brainy girl and a computer geek guy, put up a web site intended to go the boring school newspaper one better by telling "the truth." Too bad the apathetic students find it a big yawn -- until someone uses it to go after a girl in the popular crowd by posting pictures of when she was fat and announcing that she is a lesbian. Now THAT'S an interesting paper, to a middle schooler (uh, as long as none of the nastiness is directed at them).

While not terribly realistic, one can't fault Dori Butler for the idea or the intent. Cyberbullying is an issue and this book shows how all hell can break loose once kids are given free license to use the cloak of anonymity to hide their viciousness and highlight their cowardice.

Bottom line: kids will eat it up. Whether they consider it cautionary or hilarious is another thing.

[Gaby · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about a book middle schoolers who start a website about their school and the truth of their school. The point of view is from many students. The An anonymous person named milkandhoney starts step by step trying to take down one of the popular girls named Lilly Clarke, who dumped Zebby Bower and Amr Nasir, creators of the Truth about Truman website. After many cyberbullying incidents, Lilly goes missing. I suggest if you want to read the book to find out what happens, then read the book.

This was an amazing book. I loved it. We started reading this book in September and I got to finish it this month. It had a ton of great detail. It was to short though. I want it to be longer. It was suspenseful, funny, sad, happy, and has many good examples of cyberbullying and what it could lead up to. I couldn't put this book down when I was reading it. I would get home then after my homework read until around 10:00 trying to see what happens next. It's a real page turner. Trust me. I absolutely reccomend this book.

[Tanja · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book in one go, simply couldn't put it down. Two students who are tired of the censorship of their contributions to the school newspaper decide to set up a forum in the form of a website to allow students to voice their opinions freely. Little do they know that when "given the chance, some people will say anything. Anything to hurt someone else...". The situation quickly gets out of hand and allows no one to emerge untouched. A thought-provoking account of cyber-bullying, told from multiple perspectives.

[Adorkor!!! · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was actually a good book but it was kinda cliche of what they thought 7th grade was which was kinda annoying because 7th grade for me is a whole different story.

[Ridgewood Public Library Youth Services · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The Truth about Truman School," is a high school novel that tackles pretty heavy topics, with a diverse set of voices. There's the popular girl, the outcast, the tech-smart one, and the one who doesn't know where they belong. The book centers around the hidden lives of the students of Truman School, and how subtle actions and bullying can do more to a person than they would ever know. A main plot point is a website two of the main characters created, a secret newspaper in retaliation to the boring school paper that lets students anonymously write their real opinions down. I have read this book several times and each time learn something new about the characters. They are each tormented by their past, present, or future. The writing style provides the perspectives of almost every active character, which is highly unusual and gives the book a greater depth than most. The way Butler tackles the subject of bullying is very unique. I think that is why the book is so good. Butler even includes an Anonymous character to add mystery. She really took the time to give each person a character arc that shows both sides of the story. I especially enjoyed the character arc of one character, Lilly, who used to be ostracized by everyone except two. But after going into high school, Lilly becomes popular and leaves her closest friends in the dust. She wants to keep up an appearance, but she has many inner demons that haunt her. The way her character was written was remarkable because it really showcases that never know everything about someone. This is why the book is called "The Truth about Truman School". It tells the truths about high school stereotypes and popularity and most importantly, bullying. I highly recommend it.

-Kate, Grade 9

[Daisy · Rating 3 out of 5]

If I could give this book three stars and a half I would. I liked the book but it got a bit boring. But I like how it wasn't one character's perspective, but many. It's only 169 pages so it was a pretty quick book, so when I saw it, I was like, "this is my time to help my book goal get completed"

[Dave · Rating 2 out of 5]

The joys of teaching middle school extend to the gimmicks to get kids to read. For me, back in the day, a good old Hardy Boys mystery did the trick, but nowadays we have things like One School One Book promos. A committee of teachers and well-intent select a book for everyone to engage with and discuss, usually with a typical middle school theme. The Truth About Truman School had its number called this year. And while the cyberbullying theme is certainly relevant with teens these days, I found it to be a written version of the ridiculous and unnecessary drama that invariably surrounds and consumes middle school students. As a teacher of this age, I hoped for something a little more poignant than what seemed to be Mean Girls meets an After School Special. The rundown: two 8th graders at the bottom of the silly social hierarchy children connivingly craft and emulate after silly social hierarchies idiot adults manipulate, are fed up with being "censored" by their supervisor for the school paper. So they anonymously start a website for "free speech." Of course it turns into a slanderous gripe session causing consternation and ill will amongst the immature student body ill-equipped emotionally to defend themselves, and soon feelings are hurt and the experiment goes too far. I can see how students might enjoy this book and its relevancy to first world suburban problems, but I was annoyed at the lily white demographic of the students (except for Amr, the token Muslim and obligatory "terrorist" comments) and the portrayal of almost every teacher in the book as an ignorant disconnected adult uninterested in forging any semblance of a rapport with their students. That is simply not realistic. From someone who works in that exact position, we work tirelessly to try and make the students' middle school experience tolerable at the least and utterly memorable at best. Sigh. Smh.

[Brooke · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book we're teaching right now for our teens and technology unit. A well crafted YA novel about cyberbullying that manages to avoid feeling preachy, it tells the story of two teens who decide to open up what is basically a forum where anyone can post about their middle school. What they had originally hoped would be a groundbreaking victory for freedom of speech and look into the important problems at their school turns into a nightmare when the internet does what the internet does best - turns everything to shit. Surprise, surprise, anonymity brings out the worst in people, and the most popular aspects of the site quickly become the ones that tear people down, while the webmaster is stunned that people are interested in sensationalist gossip, instead of real issues. Not a bad lesson for our time at all, considering it addresses questions of censoring trolls and harassment versus that notion of preserving free speech.

The characters are pretty stereotypical, but one of the two main characters is Muslim, and it does a nice job of addressing his experience. Considering that there is a large plot revolving around one of the popular girls being accused of being a lesbian, I do wish there had been any actual LGBT characters in the story, so that it's not just presented as an ostracization point in the book (which it still reads as, despite several students' internal monologues assuring the reader that it wasn't a big deal to them personally if she was).

Overall, it's a great book for middle school level, and my kids are invested in the mystery aspect of uncovering who Anonymous is.

[Moira · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent book on cyberbullying, and on the concept of bullying in general. I found it almost impossible to put down and the ending, when the main characters come to realize what bullying is and how it can hurt, is very touching indeed. I like that it's set in middle school, because I think in many ways (well, at least for me and for my kids) middle school is socially the hardest time of your life. It was also interesting to read this on the heels of Jodi Picoult's Nineteen Minutes - a darker side of the effects of bullying. I also applaud Albert Whitman for publishing this hardhitting story for the younger crowd- maybe it will help some kids deal with this very real problem. My only criticism of the book is that I would have like the voices of Amr and Zebby, the two main characters, to have been a bit more distinct - I sometimes got confused about whose email/essay I was reading. Still, an excellent read overall.

[sophia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book surprised me! When I picked it up, I didn't think much of it, but I couldn't put it down. The message it portrayed was very clear and inspiring. It shows the truth about bullying in today's world. I'd definitely recommend this!

READ #2

It's so weird to think that I was also, like these characters, an eighth grader the last time I read this. I'm a junior in high school now, and I still love it. It is still so relevant and helpful for middle schoolers. It pretty much talks about bullying in every way. The technology is a bit outdated--people in this book texted in that sort of "text speech" that made it easier for phones of that era and online instant messengers were still in style. But cyberbullying hasn't changed much. This is completely a story that could actually happen in middle school, and there have been things like it that I've seen.

[Marta Timbrook · Rating 1 out of 5]

Okay, I'm sure for some kid out there, this book will be what they are waiting for. For me, the author's agenda to promote responsibility in internet use and freedom of speech was just too transparent. The characters were very fake and did things that didn't even make sense to me. I really did not like the read... at all.

[Ben · Rating 5 out of 5]

In, "The Truth About Truman School", the author, Dori Hillestad Butler, is trying to teach her readers that as our technology keeps growing, cyber bullying is growing with it. It is a disease that no one wants, but sometimes you are the needle in the haystack. But when that one person is getting bullied online, it's important for them to tell an adult, and get comfort from their friends.

[Dylan Peck · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was an awesome book but there were some thing that were weird but still a great book

[Jamie L]

Very good! You never know who people really are until you get to know them!

[Valerie McEnroe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting commentary on the negative ramifications of the social media age when people can hide their identity behind a screen. The story unfolds in alternating student perspectives, detailing a series of events that spiral out of control.

Zebby and Amr are all into journalism, but the faculty advisor for the school newspaper will only let them write positive articles. So they decide to start a website called truthabouttruman.com. Although they want it to be newsworthy and truthful, they decide they will not censor anyone's comments. All that backfires when someone starts posting negative stuff about popular girl, Lilly. First, it's an old overweight picture of her. Not nice, but still true. Then, it's an accusation of her being a lesbian with a link to her supposed lesbian blog. Downright mean. Might or might not be true.

As the situation gets worse, Zebby and Amr struggle over what to do. Lilly stops coming to school and eventually runs away, then transfers to another school. The over all message of the book is good. The real person is the one who hides behind the computer screen, not the person you see in physical form. Also, zero censorship is not a good policy. When people are getting hurt over things other people say, why allow it to be said, whether it's the truth or not? We all have to live on this earth together, we might as well be kind to each other.

Not a fan of the lesbian accusation, especially because Lilly is not, but still recommend for the overall message.

[6th Grade Honors Language Arts Class · Rating 5 out of 5]

, Amber
January 23rd 2012
5th period
Truth About Truman School
By: Dori Hillestad Buttler



As she walks through school with the laughing stock knowing she’s been bullied. She’s been called names people shouldn’t have called her. “Lilly Clarke popular girl is a lezbo along with her friends”. Lilly Clarke is a pig, she was fat. She had no friends.
This was called cyber bully.
The Truth about Truman School by: Dori Hillestad Butler is realistic fiction, this means that it is not a true story but it could be. I would definitely recommend this book to people around my age the least would be nine years old but any other age upper than nine would really enjoy reading this book. I only think that younger kids shouldn’t read this because some of the language is not bad but it is cruel, that some younger kids maybe start saying the words and get in trouble it is just my reason why they really shouldn’t read it. But other than that you are fine with reading this book. It has enough pages that it will at least have to take you two days to finish. So basically not too much, and not too little of pages, just perfect. I would rate this book an eight and a half maybe nine out of ten.
This is a great life lesson, to never judge someone, just because how they look or how they use to look. This is just about school bulling; I just think this is a great book to read because there is a lot of cyber bulling going on now of days. I know that you have seen a lot of movies about popular girls bulling people. But this is more realistic this isn’t about just the popular girls that wear pink and chew gum all through school this is even more then you think this is, life.
Is this story really different then real life? I don’t think so, let’s just say it is your life, you are the main character in the book you are the popular one you are the one that was fat and you went to camp then came back and joined a gymnastics camp you met the popular girls and you became one of them leaving your other friends behind, the ones that never hurt you in any way. You are now in the popular crew and everyone looks up to you and wants to be like you. But let’s just say that one of the friends that you left behind did not mean to do something cruel it just happened and they did not know that it was hurting you, they made this action online, not knowing that it was cyber bully, just thinking that it would be a great hobby and so they could become more popular posting a site that was about Truman middle school, and what was the name of the site you may ask? That site was The Truth About Truman and this is where they posted all the recent news in school not news that would hurt anyone just helpful hints but little did they know this would hurt the people they cared about the most. This was cyber bully.
So is this like all those other books that you read, or like any of those movies that you watched? I would most likely say no. this is more unique and in there on way. Maybe the author experienced bulling before, or maybe she just wanted to write some story type of story like everyone else did, but she wanted to write it in her own way, where people could see her story as the next cyber bulling story, the next book into a story. Or maybe she just decided she’d like to change her style a little bit let her readers know that she is not just one of these writers that sits there writing stories over and over again that are basically the same thing maybe she wanted to become more known for her work.
As Dori Hillestad Butler can write realistic fiction she can also write picture books for younger kids and novels, and many more books. I believe that she is an amazing writer she is one of my favorites and I’m sure she is one of yours! I really look up to her I just love how she changes her styles of her books. You may know a lot of her books. And if you know her books then you know it is not that hard for her to change her styles. I just love it how she can go to realistic fiction like this book and Yes I Know the Monkey Man, to books that are just fiction books, but if you notice basically all her books are related to some sort of thing in her life or just in plain life. Even the books that cannot really be true there is rather a lesson in most of her books, that’s why I just love her!
So as you can see I really do love her writings and I know that you would too! If you just read her books! So go check this book, out I think it is amazing! And I am hoping that this one book right here will become a movie, but books are way better then movies! If not this book then go check out her other amazing books I would recommend the Yes I Know the Monkey Man it is another amazing book by her. I don’t really care about any other persons opinion about this book, just take my advice and read this book or maybe another amazing book just trust me her stories will take you into the book and you will think you are the character I know that after I was finished reading it I thought I was in the book! You’ll have dreams about this book because it is so amazing so go ahead, go on and read it. Who, cares what your friends think about you, read this amazing book right now!
This book would be an easy to do book report on book it would be fantastic and easy and hard to beat if you done a book report on this book! I truly think this book is amazing and if you disagree with me then I don’t really care this is my opinion and I think more people would take my opinion then the awful opinions.
But trust me these opinions are one hundred percent true and you need to know that. That I really did enjoy reading this book and I know you will to so go ahead and buy this book it is very affordable and this would be a great book to spend your money on. All her books are.
Even if you’re a boy you can read this book you’ll even enjoy it trust me! Read this book! You’ll love it and you will keep on reading all of her writings because she is so amazing! Read this book or any book by her she is fantastic trust me!

[Alivia Wagner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Zebby and Amr made this website so they could become popular.When people started nociting the truth about truman.com people started going on it and making it worse. Zebby just wanted the website so people could talk about the truth.It got out of hand because then people started talikng about Lilly Clarke.It got really really bad she didn't even want to go to school.She didn't go to school for at least three whole entire days.When her mom dropped her off one day Lilly didn't go into school she went behind the school and she saw Sara there.Lilly said,''What are you doing here?''She didn't answer because she remember when Lilly made fun of her when she had a skin diease so she just ran away from her and left.When school was over Lilly's mom was wondering where she was and no one knew where she was at all.So they all started to look for her and three days later Zebby and Amr found her in there old club house.Then they all came back home.Lilly's mom was glad that they found her.The next day Lilly asked her parents if she could swicth schools and they thought about it then they said yes.This is why you should never ever bully someone.

[Naomi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this because my 7th grade daughter's teacher is reading it aloud to them and she was like, "You have to read it, but I don't really like it." I agree. I read it in pretty much one setting, so it must've been good, right? But it was quite haunting. It made me so, so glad I don't have Facebook anymore and don't do any online communicating except e-mail to family and for work. Wowsa, it is an awful jungle out there. What a free, free feeling it is to NOT hate anyone, or be caught up in anything like this. I pray I never am, and neither are my kiddos. Awful book. Great book. Crazy story. Sad that it's a totally realistic story though.

[Mrs. Wegener · Rating 3 out of 5]

"I think the person you show online is exactly the person you really are. The person you show in real life is the one that's fake. Think about it. Most people are chameleons. They act different around different people. What's real about that?"

I'd probably give this more of a 3.5 or 3.7 rating, mostly because of the above quote. It's so true, for adults or teens. I liked the theme of cyber bullying and how it negatively can affect young adults. My only gripe with the book was how awful the characters were and that they pretty unrealistic. Or, maybe I know nothing, and this is truly how middle schoolers act ... but I doubt it.

[Eileen Winfrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Somewhat dated in terms of the technology but totally current in terms of the impacts of cyber bullying. Zebby and Amr start a news website about their school so they can write the articles they want. Their liberal policy for who can post what (anything goes) results in lies and shaming to the point where the victim changes schools. I’d almost hesitate to recommend this book because there are some great ideas for ruining someone online in here if a person didn’t know how to do it already. But, an important story with a realistic finish.

[JoAnna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Three-line review: I like reading the occasional middle-grade novel, and I'm not sure what led me to put this book on my to-read list, but this is not one of the better ones I've read. I'm bothered when MG or YA novels don't give young readers credit for being thoughtful, insightful people, and I really felt like this book "spoke down" to these readers with cliched characters, dialogue, and situations. The Truth about Truman School does deal with one highly relevant issue (cyber-bullying), and bringing that relevant issue to the forefront is really the only redeeming feature of this book.

[Tripp McGowan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story was good. It was about a popular girl and her old "nerdy" friends. Her old friends created a school newspaper website where anyone from their school could post. Someone who goes by milkandhoney wrote some nasty stuff about the popular girl (Lilly). Lillys popular friends made another website called We Hate Lilly. Lilly runs away and hides because of how hurt she was due to the cyber bullying she was receiving. The book all together was a good way to show how cyber bullying can hurt.

[Alyssa DeLeon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book. I felt like the interactions were so realistic for middle-schoolers. I know middle-schoolers. Wow, they are mean. And as far as saying terrible, horrible things - even as far as to kill oneself - online…it actually is pretty in line for the age. As the book points out, it is SO much easier to bully when you aren’t face-to-face. The internet provides so much courage. Sad book, but important to see the devastation of bullying.

[Candice Flores · Rating 3 out of 5]

This will be the second novel read in class. I read it to prepare for next week when we begin. It’s definitely a middle schooler’s book. I’m hoping the kids like it but it’ll be a long 5 weeks for me reading it 5 times a day. Great lesson taught though!

[Heather · Rating 2 out of 5]

The message seemed more important to the author than the development of characters worth knowing.

[Payton Bellings · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked reading this book in reading class. It was so interesting. It was a good book about bullying. I would for sure read it again. I would also recommend it to a friend.

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book!! Read rnn