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The Truth as Told by Mason Buttle

Audiobook
5 of 5 copies available
5 of 5 copies available

From the critically acclaimed author of Waiting for Normal and All Rise for the Honorable Perry T. Cook, Leslie Connor, comes a deeply poignant and beautifully crafted story about self-reliance, redemption, and hope.

Mason Buttle is the biggest, sweatiest kid in his grade, and everyone knows he can barely read or write. Mason's learning disabilities are compounded by grief. Fifteen months ago, Mason's best friend, Benny Kilmartin, turned up dead in the Buttle family's orchard.

An investigation drags on, and Mason, honest as the day is long, can't understand why Lieutenant Baird won't believe the story Mason has told about that day.

Both Mason and his new friend, tiny Calvin Chumsky, are relentlessly bullied by the other boys in their neighborhood, so they create an underground haven for themselves. When Calvin goes missing, Mason finds himself in trouble again. He's desperate to figure out what happened to Calvin and, eventually, Benny.

But will anyone believe him?

National Book Award Finalist * ALA Schneider Family Book Award * 2019 ALSC Notable Children's Book * Publishers Weekly Best Books of 2018 * 2019-2020 Nebraska Golden Sower Award * Amazon Best Books of 2018 * Kirkus Best of Children's 2018 * New York Public Library Best Books 2018 * Chicago Public Library Best of the Best Books 2018 * 2018 Nerdy Book Club Middle Grade Winner * South Carolina Junior Book Award Nominee * 2020 Colorado Children's Book Award Nominee * Bank Street Best Children's Book of the Year 2019 (9-12) * 2020 Grand Canyon Reader Award Nominee * 2020-2021 Missouri Association of School Librarians Mark Twain Readers Award Preliminary Nominee * 2020-2021 Indiana Young Hoosier Book Award Nominee *

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  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from November 6, 2017
      In this sensitively written novel, Connor (All Rise for the Honorable Perry T. Cook) introduces a learning-disabled 12-year-old who will warm readers’ hearts and earn their respect with his honesty and compassion. Mason Buttle may have trouble spelling words and be slow to understand some things, but he knows how to be a good friend. Ever since his best friend and neighbor Benny died in an accident in the Buttles’ apple orchard, Lieutenant Baird of the police department has been badgering Mason with questions. Writing from Mason’s point of view (including journal entries he composes using a speak-and-write computer program), Connor paints a vivid picture of Mason’s world and the people who inhabit it: the grief-stricken grandmother and uncle who raise him, the neighborhood boys who torment him, and social worker Ms. Blinny, who provides a safe haven in her office. When Mason’s new friend Calvin goes missing, Lieutenant Baird returns with more questions for Mason. Poignant and suspenseful, Mason’s story crystalizes an adolescent boy’s joys and fears as he comes into his own. Ages 8–12. Agent: Miriam Altshuler, DeFiore and Co.

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Narrator Andrew Eiden's slow pace and soft tone perfectly depict the character of 12-year-old Mason Buttle. The rhythm in Eiden's narration captures Mason's storytelling voice, which is punctuated with the periodic refrain, "I'll tell you what." Listeners will be captivated by Mason's sincerity and gentleness. Eiden's low-key inflections suggest these shining qualities as Mason adopts an attitude that minimizes his learning disabilities, the death of his mother, his grandparents' unspoken grief, and the bullying of a neighbor. All these take a back seat to his frustration with his profuse sweating and his confusion about the police lieutenant who believes he's responsible for the death of his best friend. Eiden deftly portrays Mason's bewilderment and his gradual understanding of how he is perceived by the world, as well as the humanity of those who support his tender spirit. S.W. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine
    • School Library Journal

      Starred review from November 1, 2017

      Gr 5-7-Calvin Chumsky, a brilliant seventh grader and the only friend of Mason Buttle, says, "The Universe is amazing. It knows what we want. And sometimes... it hands it over like a gift." Maybe so, but the Universe isn't kind to Mason Buttle. He is a large boy who has severe dyslexia and overactive sweat glands. He is plagued by two neighborhood boys who call Mason stupid and pelt him with lacrosse balls and mushy apples. One boy, Matt, not only mistreats Mason but beats up his own dog, who prefers Mason. Worse than the constant ragging is the memory of a tragedy that happened two years ago: Mason's best friend fell off a broken ladder to his death. Lieutenant Laird has hounded Mason ever since to remember more about the accident. Mason finds his comfort in his broken-down house, the secret hideout he and Calvin create, and a school room monitored by a caring social worker. Mason's family and friends have their own misdeeds and insecurities. Uncle Drum has sold off many acres of the family's apple orchards. Instead of working, he spends his days in a diner. Shayleen, a runaway, tries to fill her life with stuff bought on a shopping network. Connor expertly captures the camaraderie of Calvin and Mason, the overly permissive parenting of Matt's mother, and the suspicious attitudes of the townspeople toward Matt after the accident. The final line in the books says it all: "Knowing what you love is smart." VERDICT A poignant underdog tale that will resonate with many young readers.-Lillian Hecker, Town of Pelham Public Library, NY

      Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

    • Kirkus

      Starred review from October 15, 2017
      Under a cloud of suspicion after the death of his best friend, a boy with a "trifecta of troubles" continues as best he can. Lt. Baird is sure seventh-grader Mason Buttle knows more about the death of Benny Kilmartin than the story he's told over and over. Now he's writing it, with the help of speech-recognition software in the school social worker's office (a process that is reproduced with unlikely accuracy). In a moving first-person narrative, Connor reveals a remarkably distinct and memorable character. Loyal and good-natured, Mason is large for his age, highly dyslexic, abnormally sweaty, and the regular target of bullying neighbor boys. He feels his emotions as colors--green for stress, shades of pink for happiness. There hasn't been much pink in Mason's life in the 16 months since Benny's accidental death, but now there's a new friend, tiny Calvin Chumsky, and the bullying neighbor's dog, Moonie, who prefers Mason. Using Mason's conversations with the detective and his voice-to-text storytelling, the author weaves the back story into a narrative of redemption chronicling his growing friendships. The climactic revelation reveals the gaps in everyone's understanding of the event and propels his struggling, white, apple-farming family--grandmother, unemployed uncle, and the stray, shopping-addicted young woman his uncle brought home--to make some needed changes. Connor's gift for creating complex characters extends to the supporting characters and makes this a compelling read. (Fiction. 9-14)

      COPYRIGHT(2017) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

    • Booklist

      November 1, 2017
      Grades 5-8 Life hasn't dealt 12-year-old Mason Buttle a winning hand. Since the death of his mother, he has lived with his grandmother and uncle Drum (who both suffer from depression). Also, his best friend, Benny, has died after falling from a treehousean accident that Lieutenant Baird thinks is somehow Mason's fault. What's more, Mason is constantly bullied because of his learning difficulties and his size (he's the largest, sweatiest kid in seventh grade). A bright spot enters Mason's life, however, in the tiny form of his new friend, Calvin Chumsky. Together, they make a hideout in an old root cellar, but when Calvin goes missing, Mason is again suspect. Throughout this realistic problem novel, Connor's portrayal of Mason is spot-on, and the seventh-grader's honesty shines through as his greatest attribute. Laced throughout the story, and evident at the end, is hope for a brighter future, both for the entire family and the community. Reminiscent of Rodman Philbrick's Freak the Mighty (1993), Connor's novel provides a thoughtful look at human nature, resilience, and love.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)

    • The Horn Book

      March 1, 2018
      Dyslexic seventh-grader Mason Buttle can neither read nor write, nor can he sequence past events. Mason lives in the here-and-now and approaches experiences with little nuance. He simply accepts his existence ( I am made the way I am made?There is no choosing about that ): as the youngest member of a struggling household; as a boy who is grieving the death of his best friend, Benny, the year before; and as a victim of intense, nonstop bullying. Neighborhood kids attack him at the bus stop, pelleting him with lacrosse balls or the apples lying around his family's now-disused apple orchard. His schoolmates make fun of his learning disabilities, his profuse sweating, his large size, and his crumbledown house. Calvin, a newfound friend who is Mason's polar opposite (small, wiry, inquisitive) provides a bright spot in Mason's otherwise troubled life. But one person wants Mason to order the pieces of his past: Lieutenant Baird of the local Pee Dee believes that Mason knows more than he's saying about Benny's death, and Mason tries mightily to remember. When Calvin goes missing, too, it's Mason who's again under suspicion. Mason's voice is honest and true, and the multifaceted characters both enrich and propel the narrative. While Connor lets readers know what happens, she leaves some of the whys for them to ponder. betty carter

      (Copyright 2018 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

    • The Horn Book

      July 1, 2018
      Dyslexic seventh-grader Mason is grieving the death of his best friend, Benny, and is a victim of intense bullying. Lieutenant Baird of the local police believes Mason knows more than he's saying about Benny's death. When new friend Calvin goes missing, too, Mason is again under suspicion. Mason's voice is honest and true, and the multifaceted characters both enrich and propel the narrative.

      (Copyright 2018 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

Languages

  • English

Levels

  • ATOS Level:2.7
  • Lexile® Measure:310
  • Interest Level:4-8(MG)
  • Text Difficulty:0-2

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