Looking for True

by Tricia Springstubb

Overview

When two unlikely friends bond over shared compassion for a bereft but lovable dog, they learn what it truly means to find a sense of belonging and identity.

Eleven-year-olds Gladys and Jude live in the same small rust belt town, and go to the same school, but they are definitely not friends. Gladys is a tiny, eccentric, walking dictionary who doesn’t hesitate to express herself, while Jude likes to keep his thoughts and feelings to himself. But they both agree that a new dog in the neighborhood is being mistreated by its owner.

Gladys would like to do something to help, while Jude is more resigned to the situation— until the dog (who Gladys has named True Blue) disappears. They hatch a plan to find her, and once they do, realize they have a problem: Gladys’s father is allergic and Jude’s mother hates dogs. There is no way they can bring her home.

They hide True Blue in an abandoned house on the edge of town, but as their ties to the dog—and to one another—deepen, so does the impossibility of keeping such a big secret. Yet giving True up will break all three of their hearts.


Told in alternating voices set in a small, rust-belt town, Looking for True is a story about family, identity, and finding friends in unexpected places.


A Horn Book Fanfare Title

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780823450992
Publisher:	Holiday House
Publication date:	11/01/2022
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	5.79(w) x 8.54(h) x 0.97(d)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Tricia Springstubb has written many well-reviewed books for young readers, including The Most Perfect Thing in the Universe and What Happened on Fox Street, which was an Indie Pick. She also wrote Every Single Second which received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and Kirkus Reviews. She lives in Cleveland Heights, Ohio.

Editorial Reviews

10/17/2022

Springstubb (The Most Perfect Thing in the Universe) crafts a heartfelt contemporary novel about unexpected friendship that kicks off with a Because of Winn-Dixie–tinged bond. When talkative, small-for-her age Gladys encounters quiet Jude, who’s tall for his, the 11-year-olds feel an instant connection with a seemingly mistreated mutt in their small-town neighborhood. Neither can take the hound home: Jude’s widowed mother fears dogs following a bite, and Gladys’s father is severely allergic. Desperate to save the dog that Gladys calls True Blue, the tweens hide her in an abandoned house after they discover she’s escaped from her owner’s yard. The stakes grow more complicated when Jude’s mother loses her job at a nursing home, resulting in tight finances for the family, and True Blue’s owner offers a $500 reward for the dog’s return. As each child navigates familial relationships—Gladys, who is adopted, around belonging and love, and Jude around a desire to make his mother proud—Springstubb gracefully conveys their need for both connection and independence, portraying sweet, protective relationships that each has with young children. Alternating third-person perspectives render unique characterizations. Jude cues as white; Gladys, depicted on the book’s cover with brown skin, is described as having “recalcitrant” hair that “sprang out like the rays of the sun.” Ages 8–12. Agent: Kristin Ostby, Greenhouse Literary. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly

2022-08-31
Two kids in a small town join forces to rescue an unloved dog.

Big-for-11 Jude lives with his mother and younger half brother; their mom works at a nursing home. Small-for-11 Gladys, who is adopted, helps her mom run an in-home day care; her dad was laid off from the auto plant. When Jude, Gladys, and a strange woman with a blue-eyed dog collide, both kids feel an immediate, wordless connection—to the dog, if not each other. When True Blue, as Gladys dubs her, disappears, Gladys and Jude find her and hide her in Jude and best friend Jabari’s secret fortress on the wrong side of town, but it’s not a long-term solution. Gladys’ dad is allergic, and Jude’s mom is afraid of dogs—how can they save True Blue from the owner who treats her poorly? Chapters from alternating close third-person perspectives show what Gladys and Jude think of themselves and each other, their deepest worries and fears, how their parents’ beliefs have shaped their own, and how they are shaping each other. The protagonists are a study in contrasts, and the supporting characters bring different worldviews and advice. Jude reads White. Jabari’s name and frequent, negative, othering mentions of the size, texture, and hair-product smell of Gladys’ hair may indicate that they are Black. The repeated use of lame as an insult and insensitive language used to describe people with substance abuse issues detract from the otherwise moving writing.

A bighearted novel that suffers from issues with representation. (Fiction. 9-13)

Kirkus Reviews

★  "The writing is fresh, sharp, and authentic. . . . It’s Because of Winn-Dixie for a new generation."—The Horn Book, Starred Review

"A heartfelt contemporary novel about unexpected friendship that kicks off with a Because of Winn-Dixie–tinged bond. . . . Springstubb gracefully conveys their need for both connection and independence, portraying sweet, protective relationships that each has with young children. Alternating third-person perspectives render unique characterizations."—Publishers Weekly

"A bighearted novel. . . ."—Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher