Middle school girls learn the value of truth telling

Rules for Liars by Debra Green and April Patten; Kar-Ben Publishing; (c) 2026; ISBN 9798765-639795; 280 pages; $18.98.

By Donald H. Harrison in San Diego

While liars are oppressed by the weight of their misrepresentations, truth tellers have clear consciences.

Such is the case in this middle school novel for two protagonists: Rebecca who is about to celebrate her bat mitzvah, and Nikki, a Christian whose family’s economic circumstances have forced them to relocate to Rebecca’s poorer neighborhood.

The girls at first don’t like each other but gradually become friends.  Nikki is the daughter of a housekeeper who tended to one of several mansions owned by a mega-millionaire.  Nikki let her schoolmates believe her mother was the actual owner of the property; that she, in fact, was as rich as they were.  But when the true owner sells the mansion and fires her mother, Nikki must face reality.

Rebecca also lies about her material life.  She fantasizes about being the girlfriend of a handsome rich boy whose bar mitzvah preceded her at the same synagogue. She even tells Nikki that he is her boyfriend. While she daydreams, she leaves her bat mitzvah preparation undone, bit lies about her progress.

Nikki’s desperation to return to her previous lifestyle leads her to steal from her church’s collection plate so she can join friends from her old neighborhood on a shopping trip.

Redemption comes after she sincerely regrets her actions and vows to pay the church back.  She and Rebecca open a roadside cookies-and-lemonade stand, which proves to be popular beyond their wildest dreams.

Mutual confessions of their lives not only strengthen their friendship but free them to be their true selves.

Ethical teachings of both Judaism and Christianity reinforce the girls’ return to the straight and narrow.

So does Rebecca’s late mother’s adage that if life gives you lemons, then make them into lemonade.

The plot is engaging with alternating chapters telling the story from each girl’s point of view.

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Donald H. Harrison is publisher and editor of San Diego Jewish World.