Fun, Canadian, Chatty, colorful, art school , footnotes, creative writing class, privacy, limits of art, family dynamics,
I tried to read this once before but the footnotes drove me crazy. My husband liked it so I persevered and did enjoy it. The book takes the form of a creative writing project at Normandy’s (main character) Arts High School on Vancouver Island, B.C. Canada. The style is chatty, She uses the footnotes to communicate back and forth with her creative writing teacher who is also, conveniently the school guidance counselor. In their quest for truth in art and life, Normandy and two friends form The Truth Commission, whose naive mission is to learn the truth about other students. This leads to predictably chaotic results among the arts high school students but serves as the catalyst for Normandy’s search for truth in her highly dysfunctional family.
She and her family live in the shadow of a brilliant older sister who has used them as caricatures in her successful graphic novels. There is a mystery surrounding the older sister which Normandy and her friends solve, but it reveals a darker truth that demands some tough love from Normandy. I enjoyed the freshness of the Canadian perspective, the characters and their high jinks, the cultural references, and the colorful art school setting. It will be a happy recommendation for grade 8 and up.