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Give Me Some Truth by Eric Gansworth
In 1980 life is hard on the Tuscarora Reservation in upstate New York, and some of the teenagers feel they have fewer options than they'd like: Carson Mastick dreams of forming a rock band, and Maggi Bokoni longs to create her own conceptual artwork instead of the traditional beadwork that her family sells to tourists--but tensions are rising between the reservation and the surrounding communities, and somehow in the confusion of politics and growing up Carson and Maggi have to make a place for themselves.
Review from School Library Journal Starred:
Carson is a senior in high school. He loves his Chevelle, his imperfect family, and music. He dreams of starting his own band with his friend Lewis, whom he treats horribly, because Lewis lets him. Maggi has just moved back to the Rez after living in the projects in the city with her mother and sister for seven years. She's 15 and works with her family selling beaded work to tourists from a script her mother wrote for her to recite when she was a little girl. She dreams of creating her own high-concept art, but life at the fictionalized Tuscarora Nation reservation and the lack of modern conveniences of their home are taking its toll on Maggi. Carson and Maggi seem to have an instant attraction, but Carson soon discovers that Maggi has embarked on a relationship with 31-year-old Jim, a white man who works with her on her job who is not quite as nice as he may seem. Gansworth's follow-up to If I Ever Get Out of Here has an incredible voice. Told in alternating perspectives, this novel places readers right at the center of young adult lives in a reservation on the outskirts of Niagara Falls. His characters are rich, well developed, and will stay with readers for a long time. Lovers of his debut novel and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie will fall in love with this incredibly written novel.
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