Sarah and the Naked Truth

by Elisa Carbone

When 10-year-old Sarah wakes up with a wad of bubble gum stuck in her hair, she has no idea how much trouble it will cause. First, she has to cut off her long hair–then she’s mistaken for a boy on her new basketball team. At least she has good friends, and each is facing a personal challenge of her own. Christina fumes at being forced to represent Mexico in a school pageant despite her Salvadoran background. And Olivia has a secret about her leg she’s reluctant to share with even her new best friends. With the help of some funny mishaps, the trio comes to realize that it’s far better to be true to themselves than pose as people they’re not. Sarah’s mom calls it showing the world their naked truth. And sometimes that’s embarrassing!

160 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Elisa Carbone was raised in Arlington, Virginia. She attended college at University of Maryland and also received two master’s degrees from University of Maryland, one in Speech Communication and the other in Education.
She now lives part time in the Washington D.C. area and part time in the mountains of West Virginia.

Reviews

[Ms. Patterson]

Sarah and her two best friends -- Olivia and Christina -- each find herself in a situation where she must decide how much of the truth to tell. Is it worth rocking the boat to tell all or is it better to leave things as is?

From that description, SARAH AND THE NAKED TRUTH sounds like a story that preaches to you, and that's far from the truth. Sarah and friends act like normal kids -- they play together, have fun, but aren't perfect. I loved how situations that could have been disastrous are turned into a funny, sometimes silly, happening. The intended audience is a bit younger than middle schoolers, but I can see it being popular with 4th-5th graders. I give it a solid 'B.'

[Anne]

Hand this to every 9 and 10 year-old girl. Great values, effervescent personalities, fine examples of friendship.

[des]

I'm rereading this since I read it when I was younger