By Avi Presentation By Rich Bonzo Jr. Nothing But the Truth By Avi Presentation By Rich Bonzo Jr.

Avi’s Nothing But the Truth Book Project Contents Novel FAQ Novel Theme About the Author Characters Crisis and Resolution Quotes Feedback Bibliography

Novel FAQ Contents Title: Nothing But the Truth Author: Avi Theme Genre: Fiction Number of Pages: 210 Publisher: Avon Flare; first printed in September 1993 Copyright: 1991 by Avi

Novel Theme Contents Avi’s innovative fictional novel Nothing But the Truth has been written to not only entice and entertain it’s readers, it has been written to teach readers a valuable lesson. Nothing But the Truth has one moral to it and that is: no matter what you think, or say, or do, the truth remains the truth, and it isn’t always easy to accept. This young readers’ fictional novel of a national scandal proves how that while lying does only makes matters worse, in some cases bits and pieces of a whole truth can be just as damaging as a lie. I believe that while the novel is primarily focused around this moral, it also incorporates how a person can “say or do the right thing at the right time for the wrong reason.” I do believe that the reader never does find out exactly what happened, but they sum up their own idea of what actually happened. The modern, “civilized” world of the current United States is dependant on a system of rules, laws and regulations, but what is the outcome of the flaws of the system? Nothing But the Truth is a story of one of those answers.

About Avi Contents Avi was born in New York in 1937 and was raised in Brooklyn. Growing up as a child, Avi was never a very strong writer, in fact it was the one of his poorest classes. Avi however did excel in science. By his senior year, Avi had made up his mind that he was going to be an author. Originally, Avi wrote simply to prove that he could write, and also because it was very important in his family. Avi’s apparent awareness of the “complexities of the truth” have yielded the novel Nothing But the Truth, which was originally titled Discovery. In the novel, Avi states that his intentions are to “…put the reader in charge- like a detective- by presenting all the evidence pertaining to what actually happened.” Now one of today’s most popular and highly acclaimed author of books for young adults, which include the Newbery Honor Winning Nothing But the Truth and The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, Avi continues to write various mysteries, comedies, fantasies, and historic novels for young readers. His most recently published titles are the Christmas Rat and Ereth’s Birthday. Avi now lives in Providence, Rhode Island.

Characters of the Novel Contents Characters Philip Malloy Ms. Margaret Narwin Dr. Joe Palleni Dr. Gertrude Doane Mr. And Mrs. Malloy

Philip Malloy Contents Characters High school sophomore of Harrison High School in New Hampshire, long time fan and participant of track and field; the main character of the novel, he’s an example of the “average” teenage Joe in the novel. Never getting straight A’s, Philip has always cruised along with A’s, B’s and the occasional A’s. Philip loves track more than anything, following in his dad’s footsteps, he plans to go even farther and into the Olympics if possible. He can’t stand his new English teacher, Ms. Narwin, for she seems Way to stone cold and boring. He finds enjoyment out of being the class clown and annoying the heck out of poor Ms. Narwin. Philip’s grudge towards the teacher only increases when he is unable to join the track due to a single D that he received in Ms. Narwin’s English class.

Ms. Margaret Narwin Contents Characters A trusted well experienced English teacher with ten years’ experience at Harrison High, Ms. “Peg” Narwin is Philips English teacher, and, now his homeroom teacher as well. In the novel she admits that Philip is a sometimes troublesome student, but that she knows that he’s really a good kid. She knows he has potential, and she makes numerous efforts to get him enthused in her class as much as the rest of the students. A good friend of the school faculty, specifically the Principal and Vice Principal’s who call her “Peg.” Ms. Narwin becomes the unfortunate victim in this novel, as a conflict between her and Philip make her look like the bad guy.

Dr. Joe Palleni Contents Characters Dr. Palleni is the Vice Principal of Harrison High School, and for the most part takes care of most of the problems in the school. Dr. Palleni is a fairly easy going kind of guy, who seems to give Philip a fair second chance and such. He plays things by the rules, and uses them as well as the authority of higher officials to back him up. He wasn’t exactly my favorite guy in the book, because of his stubbornness and tendency to always, always, always, always take advantage of his right and authority to cut off and interrupt people. A fairly close colleague of Ms. Narwin, he naturally backs her up, and having been a major factor in this novel’s plot and outcome, I believe that the story ends up so unhappily all due to his “stick to the rule” policy.

Dr. Gertrude Doane Contents Characters The principal of Harrison high, and an obvious subject in authority, Dr. Doane is another strict “stick to the rules” type of person. Only, I like her character better than Palleni’s because since she holds such an important job in the town, her decisions and thoughts have to be made accordingly with the school board in order to keep things sane and under control. This wise principal tries to keep things under control and to try to prevent this from escalating to the point that it wreaks havoc on the approaching school board elections. Dr. Doane reminds me of a politician due to her attitude towards things and the position and situation Avi has put her in in his novel.

Mr and Mrs. Malloy Contents Characters Mr. and Mrs. Malloy are Philip’s parents, and long time patriot couple; so much that I fact they’ve encouraged Philip to express his Patriotism in as many ways as possible whenever it’s appropriate (in this case, they strongly support their son). They’re obviously quite shocked at the news that Philip brings them of Ms. Narwin’s apparent Anti-Patriotism attitude towards him in class, by means of suspending Philip from school. His parents play a major part in this national scandal by spreading the word of this act of wrong doing, naturally making Philip the good guy, and Narwin the baddy.

Crisis and Resolution Contents Philip Malloy is a High school sophomore who loves track and field, but hates his English teacher, Ms. Narwin. She just doesn’t have any sense of humor for his jokes, which he believes is the only thing that keeps the class awake through her classes. After bombing a Call of the Wild quiz in Narwin’s English class, he gets a D as a Winter Term Grade, automatically prohibiting him from joining the track team. This makes him furious, he feels nothing but hate and anger towards Ms. Narwin. This is where the story takes a peculiar twist, for he begins to sing, and hum the National Anthem in class, during which a “respectful time of silence is supposed to be observed.” After two instances of this, he’s suspended from the high school for two days, and thus the beginning of the national scandal. The resolution, if you want to call it that, begins when word of this horrific act leaks from Philips parents to a next-door-neighbor, who from there passes it on to a reporter, and then the whole town who reads the reporter’s article. Eventually, the entire Eastern half of the United States gets word of this unbelievable act. It becomes the talk of the nation, as millions of people, via talk shows and newspaper articles, learn about this little incident. Hate mail towards Ms. Narwin begin to flood the school, and thank you mail reaches Philip, congratulating him for defending his Patriotism. It gets to the point where neither Philip nor Ms. Narwin can stand it anymore. Ms. Narwin takes a break from her job and gets some R & R at her sister’s house, and possibly resigns, the book does not say whether she does or not. As for Philip, he leaves Harrison and enters a private school as a hero, where he is greeted with open arms. But, for Philip, this incident has cost him much more than just his school and friends. But in order to find out that, you’ll just need to read the book yourself.

Do you swear to tell the truth, Quotes from the Novel Contents Two Questions Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? Does anyone say no? Dr. Doane “Well, they believe what the story says and… Believe me Peg, I know. It’s all a mistake.” Dr. Doane “People believe what they read.”

“Riveting Entertainment!” Feedback Contents “A powerful, explosive novel that involves the reader from start to finish” The Horn Book (*Starred Review*) “This highly original novel emerges as a witty satire of high school politics… It is clear that Avi is attuned to the modern high school scene…with remarkable insight, he conveys the flaws of the system while creating satiry that is both entertaining and profound.” Publishers Weekly “An excellent and thought-provoking novel, written by a well-known and respected author… it will make readers think about what they read in the paper, see on TV and what they hear on the radio.” VOYA “Avi’s imaginative and innovative style and is focus on substantive issues have earned critical acclaim and, more important the enthusiastic readership among children and adolescents.” The New York Times “Riveting Entertainment!” Booklist (*Starred Review*)

Bibliography Nothing But the Truth by Avi http://www.avi-writer.com/ Contents http://www.avi-writer.com/ http://www.avi-writer.com/bin/desc.cgi?book= NOTHING+BUT+THE+TRUTH http://www.avi-writer.com//QandA.html Nothing But the Truth by Avi