The Totally True Story of Gracie Byrne

September 4, 2023
A 16-year-old realizes that she can alter reality via her journal in this pensive tale by Takaoka (Everything I Thought I Knew). In 1987, high school junior Gracie Byrne is tired of being overlooked; she wants to be “more confident or funny or quick-witted or even mysteriously aloof… just more.” And even though she’s still navigating her parents’ divorce and her maternal grandmother’s Alzheimer’s, she’s confident that attending a new school is her chance for a fresh start. As the year commences, Gracie starts to make friends, including her charmingly goofy neighbor, Tom. Something weird is going on, however: when she writes stories about herself—the self she wishes she were—in her grandmother’s old notebook, they happen in real life. Suddenly, the extremely hot guy she sits next to in art class is interested in her. But this unexpected power comes at a cost. Immersive prose effectively conveys the push and pull between honoring one’s self and pursuing one’s desires. Via moments of young love and old loss, and themes of coming back to oneself, Takaoka delivers a moving and emotionally satisfying read. Characters are cued as white. Ages 14–up.

September 1, 2023
An old journal gives a teen the ability to control the narrative of her life--but at what cost? Gracie is a lover of words and stories. Her imagined life on the page is so much more appealing than her real one. Reality means divorced parents and a new start in Pittsburgh as she begins her junior year of high school, now that Alzheimer's disease prevents Katherine, her maternal grandmother, from living alone. Gracie, while idly exploring Katherine's vanity, discovers a velvet-covered journal. Unable to resist the lure of its blank pages, she begins penning her stories there--and soon realizes that the stories are moving beyond the pages and into the real world. What initially seems like a boon has unexpected ramifications: Having seen how Alzheimer's disease has affected Katherine's memories, Gracie belatedly realizes the impact her stories are having on those around her. She grapples with whether a developing romance is genuine or the artificial result of her stories. Takaoka skillfully portrays teen interactions, as well as the messiness and love of family members caring for a relative with Alzheimer's disease. She grounds readers in Gracie's 1987 world, from an immersive midnight showing of The Rocky Horror Picture Show to Orange Juliuses at the local mall, landline phones, and Aqua Net. Main characters are cued white. A warmhearted story that will resonate with anyone who has ever dreamed of reinventing themselves. (author's note) (Fiction. 13-18)

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January 1, 2024
It's 1987, and Gracie is the new girl at her Pittsburgh high school; her family has recently moved in with her grandmother, who has Alzheimer's. After some embarrassing encounters with her new classmates, Gracie wishes she could be more interesting and less awkward. So when she finds a blank journal in her grandmother's vanity, she imagines just that, writing a scene in which she is sophisticated and mysterious. Then she discovers that whatever she writes about comes true in real life. The hot guy, wearing the same army jacket she described in the journal, suddenly seems interested in her; the mean girl, after complimenting her outfit, hands her the exact lipstick she wrote about the night before. While Gracie's newfound power is intoxicating, the journal's interpretations of her words can be dangerously unpredictable. (After she experiments by writing about her career as a bird photographer, for example, a rare owl shows up at school, causing chaos.) Ultimately, the journal helps Gracie understand that "the things we can't control, and the broken parts, and the mistakes are all part of what make us who we are." A charming romance with the boy across the street and the faithfully rendered 1980s setting (think corded telephones, cassette tapes, and midnight showings of The Rocky Horror Picture Show) complete this original and absorbing fantastical tale. Rachel L. Kerns

(Copyright 2024 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

January 1, 2024
It's 1987, and Gracie is the new girl at her Pittsburgh high school; her family has recently moved in with her grandmother, who has Alzheimer's. After some embarrassing encounters with her new classmates, Gracie wishes she could be more interesting and less awkward. So when she finds a blank journal in her grandmother's vanity, she imagines just that, writing a scene in which she is sophisticated and mysterious. Then she discovers that whatever she writes about comes true in real life. The hot guy, wearing the same army jacket she described in the journal, suddenly seems interested in her; the mean girl, after complimenting her outfit, hands her the exact lipstick she wrote about the night before. While Gracie's newfound power is intoxicating, the journal's interpretations of her words can be dangerously unpredictable. (After she experiments by writing about her career as a bird photographer, for example, a rare owl shows up at school, causing chaos.) Ultimately, the journal helps Gracie understand that "the things we can't control, and the broken parts, and the mistakes are all part of what make us who we are." A charming romance with the boy across the street and the faithfully rendered 1980s setting (think corded telephones, cassette tapes, and midnight showings of The Rocky Horror Picture Show) complete this original and absorbing fantastical tale.

(Copyright 2024 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)