Toni Teepell's debut novel, A Truth Worth Telling; tells the story of a 12 year old girl and her life growing up as the child of a schizoprenic mother.  Her father moves her and her mother to a small southern town.  The family moves there because it's close to the mental hospital her mother uses.  Maggie, our main character, is forced to grow up way to fast to deal with the hand that life has dealt her. 

Told with heartbreaking tenderness, humor and honesty, this novel takes us through her trials of getting accepted into a new small town, the stigma of mental illness, and isolation.  Maggie is nervous about telling locals the story of her Mother's illness, so it takes her quite a while to find a friend.  Her friend, another young girl in the town, is also a

bit of an outsider.  Daughter of an alcoholic mother who abuses her,  her risk taking, cigar smoking and petty thief new friend, Samantha, has a world of troubles of her own.

Rich in small southern town charm, we meet other characters who likewise seem true to life and somewhat eccentric.     I found myself totally absorbed in the story, and truly cared about the people therein.  When I finished the book, I wished there was more.....a part 2, so I could continue to share Maggie and Samantha's life.  In my mind, that is the true hallmark of a well written novel; people you wonder about and care for when the book is over. 

I look forward to reading more by Toni Teepell, and thank her for a touching, sometimes hearbreaking novel.  She shows great promise as an author.