The Truth About 5th Grade

May 27, 2024
Though everyone keeps telling them “people change,” fifth grade best friends Charli Wilson and Alex Andropov, who do everything together, are certain that nothing can come between them: their mothers co-own an architecture firm, their fathers co-facilitate a poetry club, and they’re next-door neighbors. But when Charli meets classmate Henry and dubs him her True Crush Forever, and learns that Alex committed the BFF crime of “BLABBERMOUTHERY” by telling someone about said crush, things begin to fall apart. Charli has never told anyone that Alex sleeps with a blankie or that he has a crush on quiet classmate Kiara, so she doesn’t understand Alex’s betrayal. Alternating diary entries written by Parisi (the Marty Pants series) and Tomsic (The 12th Candle) feature expressive illustrations that match the characters’ personalities: doodles in the margins and dramatic line breaks personify Charli’s stream-of-consciousness narration while Alex’s organized paragraphs sport larger defined sketches. As the besties struggle to get on the same page, they navigate friendship rivalries, pranks, and violations of privacy via fast-paced chapters that highlight their differences—and similarities—and offer laugh-out-loud moments. Character skin tones match the white of the page. Ages 8–12.