BOOK REVIEW: Lies We Tell Ourselves.

Title: Lies we tell ourselves
Author: Robin Talley
Genre: Historical fiction
Page count: 384
In 1959 Virginia, the lives of two girls on opposite sides of the battle for civil rights will be changed forever.
 Sarah Dunbar is one of the first black students to attend the previously all-white Jefferson High School. An honors student at her old school, she is put into remedial classes, spit on and tormented daily.
 Linda Hairston is the daughter of one of the town's most vocal opponents of school integration. She has been taught all her life that the races should be kept separate but equal.
 Forced to work together on a school project, Sarah and Linda must confront harsh truths about race, power and how they really feel about one another.
 Boldly realistic and emotionally compelling, Lies We Tell Ourselves is a brave and stunning novel about finding truth amid the lies, and finding your voice even when others are determined to silence it.

Wow. Just... Wow. These were the first words I had after reading the first sentence of this book. While I'm an Australian and don't condone what happened to the African Americans at all, I find it interesting to read books about that period of time. This book does that topic a lot of justice.

Sarah Dunbar is an African American who is integrating to a white school for the first time in
American history. A smart student who is an amazing singer and hopes to go to uni, she is put into remedial classes, daily spat at and watches all her friends get tormented at the hands of the white kids. Linda Hairston is once again a smart kid, but has been taught all her life that segregation is the most important part of life. She strongly agrees with her father and can't bear the thought of having to put up with the black kids. But when they begin to work together on a school project, can they even begin to admit the feelings that they've developed for each other?

Now, I've said on an earlier post that I've read nearly 200 books this year. Out of all of them, this is by far the best book I've read this year. Robin Talley doesn't wriggle silently away from the nitty gritty-in fact, she dives headfirst into it. This is the first time I've read a book where the main characters are lesbian. And there better be some heart stopping author out there, because I will never be able to find a book that comes a fraction close as to how good this book is.

Both the main characters are interesting as well. Sarah is constantly trying to figure out why she likes girls so much, so she had very little self esteem. She was by far my favourite character in the book. Linda wasn't really that appealing to me, but it was so great to see her grow through the book. She still remained a bit racist by the end of the book, but she'd grown so much you really were rooting for her in the end. And the secondary characters were cool, my personal favourite being Judy.

Overall, if you're looking for a brand new favourite book, pick this up NOW. Soon you will be thanking me regally because I introduced you to this book (Jokes :-P) I give it five stars and a massive thumbs up.
~El