The Porcupine of Truth

General YA Fiction

VG/A Konigsberg, Bill. Porcupine of Truth. Alfred A. Levine, 2015. 978-0-545-64893-6. 17.99.

Rather than getting to spend summer at home in New York, Carson is stuck in Billings, Montana with his mom and estranged father.  He has not seen his father in fourteen years, and who is now dying of alcoholism.  While his mom settles in, Carson is left at ZooMontana, where he befriends Aisha, the most beautiful girl he’s ever met.  The two become friends right away. When Carson finds out that Aisha has been living at the zoo ever since her father kicked her out for being lesbian, he invites her to stay with his family.  While the two are cleaning up, they discover papers about Carson’s grandparents –divorce papers and old letters.  Carson’s father claimed that his father, Russell Smith, abandoned him when he was young. His father just disappeared when he was seventeen and he never heard or saw him again.  Obviously, the disappearance of his father still haunts him, and despite Carson’s father’s plea to leave the past alone, Carson decides if there’s any chance of reuniting his father and grandfather before his father dies, he’s going to try his best.  So, Carson and Aisha set off together in Aisha’s red Dodge Neon with the “porcupine of truth” to embark on an unforgettable road trip, retracing the same journey that his grandfather took so many years before.  A heart-wrenching, inspiring novel by Konigsberg. Camille Campos, YA Librarian, Angeles Mesa Branch Library, LAPL