True Blue by Deborah Ellis

True Blue by Deborah Ellis (Orca, 2012)



Summary from publisher:
A person doesn't have to do anything important to get recognition anymore; it's enough to know someone who does.  Parasitic fame.

Casey was more than a dependable camp counselor dedicated to her little buddies in Cabin Three.  She was a brilliant science student headed for a career in entomology.  Casey wasn't the kind of girl to be stuck in a smal town like Galloway for the rest of her life.  She was really going places.  And nobody knew this better than Jess, Casey's best friend.  So how could a girl like Casey find herself arrested for the murder of a young camper under her care?  Jess believes her friend is innocent and that the real killer will be caught eventually.  But while her friend is locked up and awaiting trial, Jess becomes the center of attention, forced to endure endless speculation.  It seems everyone wants to know what happened that last week at camp.  After all, Jess was also a counselor in Cabin Three.  She must know something.... right?

True Blue was a book that kept me turning the pages.  The narrator, Jess, tells the story of the aftermath of the murder of little Stephanie and the arrest of her best friend, Casey.  As the town turns against Casey and her family, Jess is torn between loyalty to her friend and the possibility of joining the popular group at school.  At the end of each chapter, Jess's handwritten diary adds an additional layer to the story.  As it unfolds, the reader begins to wonder just what version of the story is the truth.  The fact that Jess seems as if SHE could be the guilty one made the story even more interesting.

This is a book that makes the reader consider truth, loyalty, the power of friendship, and the destructive nature of mental illness.  Teens who enjoy realistic fiction with a bit of mystery will surely enjoy True Blue.