Tru Confessions is the first novel by children’s book author Janet Tashjian. It is published by Henry Holt and Company; the paperback is published by Square Fish, an imprint of Macmillan. The novel is written in a format of a diary inputted on a computer and uses lists and illustrations.
The novel has been translated into several languages and was adapted into a 2002 Disney Channel Original Movie of the same name starring Clara Bryant and Shia LaBeouf.
Plot
Trudy is a twelve-year-old girl who both wants to have her own television show and ‘cure’ her developmentally delayed brother Eddie.
Reception and awards
The novel received positive reviews. Publishers Weekly in their starred review praises the truthful reflection of the experience of having a mentally-impaired sibling and unique digital diary format and states “Middle-graders will laugh their way through Tru’s poignant and clever take on everyday life”. Kirkus Reviews' review praised the characters and plot.
The novel was named a New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age, a Bank Street College of Education Best Children’s Book of the Year, and a Women's National Book Association Judy Lopez Memorial Honor Book, won the Dolly Gray Children's Literature Award, and nominated for the Massachusetts Children's Book Award on the Master List.