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Nothing But The Truth: A Documentary Novel
: As a former educator of young children and a commentor on today's ethical standards, I find this book to be a marvelous teaching tool and learning experience. Unfortunately, I noticed that the emphasis, in the other reviews, is on the relativity of truth. Today's: what is truth, let alone the whole truth? In my opinion the real crux of the matter is exactly what Avi says it is: a story of the tiny little distortions of truth; the little white lies we are so tempted to accept as part of smoothing the edges of contemporary life. This book very cleverly shows what those small distortions of the real truth can yield. In the end, the real problem and, therefore, its solution, was buried under a slowly growing avalanche of variations on the truth. It's a marvelous parable.
 I thought that the book was all about who was right and who was wrong. I mean the whole plot was about who was telling the truth Mrs.Narwin or Philip. Plus Philips parents didn't even bother to go to the school and find out what really happened. But over all I thought it was a pretty good book to read even thow it was a little short. The plot or the story line I thought was alright if there was not so much liying in the story, thats what I thought about the plot.
The charaters in the book all had very good persanalatys exceped Philip the main charater.
I read this book in 3 years ago, when I was in the sixth grade. Although this book was generally easy to understand, it made me think. When I re-read it, I understood what the general theme was about- today's media that is always misleaded by so many opinions and points of view. All of what's in the story COULD happen, and probably something like this HAS happened many times. The story never gets boring, and is a VERY good book. Even adults should read it to see what could happen in today's world.
Of all the funny, comedy filled, chuckle laden, gigglish, ironically filled novels, AVI'S, "Nothing But the Truth" is one of then that you should read. This documentary-style novel helps the story become more life-like, making the story even more ironic, and funny.
The novel, "Nothing But the Truth" is about a boy, named Philip Malloy, who lives in a small town in New Hampshire, who absolutley loves running track, but cannot get on his school's track team, because of his failing grades in English class, which happens to be taught by the school's more experienced teacher, Miss Narwin. Miss Narwin also happen to be Philip's new homeroom teacher and, for him, that makes matters worse.
To Philip, Miss Narwin is a boring, serious, cynical, old teacher, who,"Has it in for him," where all of his class mates says she's a nice, respectful, jocular, regular, normal, everyday, average 9th grade teacher.
Philip Malloy is convinced that Miss Narwin dislikes him, so, he decides to concoct an unbeleviably, believable (to everybody else, including his school, family, what many friends he's got, the whole town, and eventually, the whole nation) scheme to transfer hisself out of her classes to get on the school's track team.
Instead of taking the school's side, Philip's
parents take his side, not paying attention to his breaking a school rule, and paying attention to the subject of patriotism. Soon the local national news media, and the local communities reporters get involved. Even radio talk shows, and a local neighbor, Ted Griffens, who's running for the school board, gets involved, hoping for the towns attention to earn some extra votes.
Throughout the story, is one big line of prevarication, falsification, fabrication, misrepresentation, and equivocation, causing one big mess, in one small town.
In AVI'S ,"Nothing But the Truth," one out of many exciting qualities in his novel would have to be that of "irony," which is used after the book's funny, climactic resolution. The novel, probably, would have to be known for the irony of the book's character's, whos lives are destroyed/ruined, because of one boy, and his failing english grades.
In the end, nobody wins: Philip ends up in a new school, which, ironically, doesn't have a track team, and Miss Narwin, ironically, is forced to leave the school. Included in this novel are many documentaries, including: letters, diary entries, memos, transcripts, and phone conversations, which, like I said in the beginning, makes the story more life-like, making it more ironic, and fun.
According to Kirkis Reviews, AVI'S novel is ",Wryly satyrical: nothing but the deplorable truth about our increasingly, inarticulate, media-driven society."
 This book was truly a masterpiece. Even though this book is fictional, I could easily imagine what was going through the characters' heads.
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