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The Truth About Gracie Paperback – March 22, 2023
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The future is bright for Tanner and Gracie. At least that’s the way Tanner sees it. In less than a year, they would go away to college together and begin the rest of forever with one another.
When Gracie chooses to end her own life, Tanner is left alone with so many unanswered questions. Feeling abandoned and confused, his family is less than supportive, his friends don’t know how to act around him, and Gracie, well, she’s just gone. All Tanner had ever seen for his future featured Gracie by his side. Now he’s alone and doesn’t have a clue what to do without her.
The memory of her soft lips, smeared with strawberry ChapStick, meeting mine in a gentle kiss…
When Tanner learns there were parts of Gracie he knew nothing about, his world is turned completely upside down once again. He doesn’t tell anyone what he knows; instead he keeps all Gracie’s secrets to himself. He makes it his mission to find out what truly brought Gracie to the point of no return.
How had he missed the signs?
Facing off with family, friends, and his own grief, Tanner grasps every straw he can, wondering if he will ever know the truth about Gracie.
- Print length243 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- Publication dateMarch 22, 2023
- Dimensions6 x 0.61 x 9 inches
- ISBN-101072959488
- ISBN-13978-1072959489
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Product details
- Publisher : Independently published (March 22, 2023)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 243 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1072959488
- ISBN-13 : 978-1072959489
- Item Weight : 15.2 ounces
- Dimensions : 6 x 0.61 x 9 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #4,434,061 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author
Sarah Dawson Powell was born and raised in the suburbs of Chicago, and currently lives in Central Illinois with her kidlings and too many cats. Her hobbies include doing laundry, washing dishes, petting cats, writing, reading, and talking to kids who have selective hearing. In her spare time, she enjoys working sixty hours a week, sleeping, and drinking lots of coffee. When she grows up, she wants to change the world.
Sarah has a bachelor's degree in sociology from the University of Illinois and has worked in social services since graduating. Her life hasn't always been peachy, but she's made the best of every situation. No one likes to talk about the dark side of life- addiction, domestic violence, abortion, rape, teen pregnancy, suicide, mental illness, child abuse & neglect, etc.- so she decided to write books that would give people a glimpse inside of this world. She hopes her readers take something away from her stories and loves to interact with them on social media.
Follow Sarah on Facebook for subpar stolen memes & occasional updates about her books/writing: www.facebook.com/thefragileline
Twitter: @sarahpowell8
Instagram: sarah_dawson_powell
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- Reviewed in the United States on March 28, 2023The Truth is…
I avoid stories centered around suicide. It’s not a happy topic. I like to stay in a happy state of mind. A lifelong resident of Washington state, winters are miserable; long, dark, cold, wet, and, I have PTSD.
However, author Sarah Powell, brought this story to my attention. I didn’t tell her I downloaded it on my Kindle…just in case it was a no go. Two days later I finished it.
The Truth is…
Death happens. If it’s not sudden from an accident etc., we know it’s part of the cycle of life. It hurts like hell for a while, but the pain slowly eases with time. Memories replace pain and sorrow.
When someone dies suddenly from the ignorance of other(s), DUI etc., that’s another type of anger, hurt, sorrow.
The Truth is…
Suicide…is a monster. It’s like nothing you’ve ever felt emotionally. It leaves so many unanswered questions, for everyone. Family and relatives suffer the most. More than likely, each of us has known or heard of someone who left the world too soon.
The Truth is..
That being over 50 (cough) I have forgotten what it was like to be a teenager. The emotions, the pressures, the hormones, the weight of the world on your shoulder. EVERYTHING was magnified a million times; things that happened to you and around you, and how you felt about it all.
“The Truth About Gracie” has reminded me of one word. EMPATHY.
Empathy is shown in how much compassion and understanding we can give to another. Sympathy is more of a feeling of pity for another. Empathy is our ability to understand how someone feels while sympathy is our relief in not having the same problems.
Sarah Powell has written a wonderful piece that I could not. From what she shared in the epilog, at one time Sarah had found herself in a similar situation that could have turned out like Gracie’s. Without knowing this until I read the epilog, I knew that the author was reaching inside of her soul from experience. That—made the story of Tanner dealing with Gracie’s suicide so real. I didn’t mean to finish the story in two days, but I couldn’t help myself. I had to find out why Gracie committed suicide. And when I did, I could have said, “Well, I couldn’t/wouldn’t have done that!” But that’s not even sympathetic. I was not, and don’t have to be in Gracie’s situation of having a dysfunctional life, poor, looked down by others, and abused, to empathize.
*** I must add that the scenes between Tanner and his mom, reminded me of the first few minutes of the (YouTube) movie “Not Cinderella’s Type” by Jenni James, author. I wish I could have reached my hand in the Kindle and strangled Tanner’s mom. Sorry, was that out loud? LOL
I am very glad that I took a chance on reading this book. Very well done. A few missing words where they ought to be, but I don't get my panties in a wad over that.
- Reviewed in the United States on March 30, 2023I LOVED this book! I couldn’t put it down. I couldn’t wait to find out the truth about Gracie. I felt bad for Tanner from the beginning and all the way through. His mom was terrible to him and his friends, except Kinsey, didn’t seem to care about what he was going through. I was kinda mad at Gracie cause of what I assumed happened but then there was such a twist at the end that I didn’t see coming AT ALL. It’s was like a love story and mystery all in one. I would love to know more of Bailey’s story… sequel maybe? Please let there be a sequel.
- Reviewed in the United States on August 21, 2024I read the book. It was ok. I predicted the end and it was not that much of a shocker. I was really hoping this book was as good as I had anticipated.
- Reviewed in the United States on March 23, 2023As mature adults, especially those of us who have been married for many years and raised our families, we sometimes tend to forget what teenage love feels like; so in love your teeth ache, so in love you can’t breathe, so in love you think it’s forever – whatever forever is – usually until graduation and going off to college. This is the world Sarah Dawson-Powell has created in her book The Truth About Gracie around the main character Tanner Kelly. His love and devotion to Gracie Hamilton are unwavering and admirable.
The Kelly family, described as “Thomas County royalty”, are affluent and perhaps a bit cliché haughty, while Gracie’s family – mother and step-father not married – reside in close proximity but very far off in the neighboring mobile home community. Tanner’s mother definitely has an attitude toward “that kind of girl” while pushing her own daughter toward pageant life. Gracie’s mother, while she has her issues, is accepting, kind and compassionate; as I said, perhaps a bit cliché, but it works here.
The Author does an excellent job of creating a believable, youthful world around Tanner and Gracie full of “real” people by casually dropping first and last names of friends, foes and family, although, there is room for a bit more character development in some of the principles. She gives a bird’s eye view of their small town from the perspective of a seventeen-year-old Tanner, as he moves from moment to moment trying in his immature and inexperienced way to deal with an immeasurable tragedy that no one else seems to take seriously enough. His inner thoughts and gut-wrenching questions are poignant and raw. I can see him as clearly as day and feel his pain as a mother who has raised a boy and two girls to adulthood.
There are a few grammatical errors, word usage mistakes and misspellings which obviously got past the editing process, but nothing so blatant as to interfere with the flow of the story. The author’s unpretentious style is easy to settle into with a somewhat unconventional page formatting that, at first glance for me, was off-putting with lack of capitalization and one word paragraphs. However, as I read on, it grew on me as a clever device to make the reader understand how the characters were thinking.
The story’s progress bogs down in the middle with a little too much “partying” and not much revelation or foreshadowing, but by this time, I was too deeply invested to not “solve the mystery”. I continued plowing through the weeds toward the clearing until suddenly there it was; the denouement. If you are unfamiliar with this term, it means the action of untying. A denouement is the final outcome of the main complication in a play or narrative and usually occurs AFTER the climax (the turning point or "crisis"). I must say, I had guessed the “who-done-it”, but was not disappointed in the outcome.
Overall, I recommend this compelling read of young adult fiction to readers over sixteen years old.
- Reviewed in the United States on April 3, 2023Amazing book that kept me interested until the end!! This book deals with real life issues, and feel it is good for ages teen+. I love how the book finishes and doesn't leave you wondering. Ps. Grab a tissue or two before you finish. 10/10 recommend!
Top reviews from other countries
- John Stuart GuthrieReviewed in the United Kingdom on May 2, 2023
5.0 out of 5 stars A powerful insight into adolescent troubles.
This account of a young person's struggle to find the truth is very powerful, not least because it does not seem to be a novel written by an adult about adolescents: instead, the reader feels that it is an adolescent's true account. The problem of trying to cope with feelings and situations which can't be shared, which can't be expressed, is dealt with in a vivid and compassionate way, with a shocking conclusion to show the secret torments that so many carry around.
Highly recommended.