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Tru & Nelle: A Novel
Tru & Nelle: A Novel
Tru & Nelle: A Novel
Ebook223 pages3 hours

Tru & Nelle: A Novel

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

3.5/5

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Long before they became famous writers, Truman Capote (In Cold Blood) and Harper Lee (To Kill a Mockingbird) were childhood friends in Monroeville, Alabama. This fictionalized account of their time together opens at the beginning of the Great Depression, when Tru is seven and Nelle is six. They love playing pirates, but they like playing Sherlock and Watson-style detectives even more. It’s their pursuit of a case of drugstore theft that lands the daring duo in real trouble. Humor and heartache intermingle in this lively look at two budding writers in the 1930s South.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateMar 1, 2016
ISBN9780544829329
Tru & Nelle: A Novel
Author

G. Neri

G. Neri is the Coretta Scott King honor-winning author of Yummy: the Last Days of a Southside Shorty and the recipient of the Lee Bennett Hopkins Promising Poet Award for his free verse novella, Chess Rumble. His novels include Surf Mules and the Horace Mann Upstander Award-winning Ghetto Cowboy. His latest books include the YA novel Knockout Games, and the picture book biography Hello, I'm Johnny Cash. His work has been honored by the Museum of Tolerance and the Simon Wiesenthal Center, Antioch University, the International Reading Association, the American Library Association, the Junior Library Guild, and the National Council for Teachers of English. Neri has been a filmmaker, animator, teacher, and digital media producer. He currently writes full-time and lives on the Gulf Coast of Florida with his wife and daughter.

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Reviews for Tru & Nelle

Rating: 3.7419354838709675 out of 5 stars
3.5/5

31 ratings6 reviews

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  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Fun story based on the real-life friendship of Capote and Lee that feels very nostalgic.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This novel is a fictionalized version of Truman Capote and Nelle Harper Lee’s childhood friendship in Monroeville, Alabama.Truman Capote was a famous author who wrote novels and short stories that you may read in high school. In True Blood is one of his most famous, which is about a murder in Kansas. Truman and Nelle investigated the murders, but he wrote the book. Nelle Harper Lee is most famous for To Kill a Mockingbird, which is one of my favorite novels. In this novel, True and Nelle, the author “hints” as to how the future novels may have been influenced by their childhoods.Truman, Tru, is left by his parents in Monroeville to live with his aunts. He meets Nelle, who is not your typical girl. She’s fearless. Nelle lives with her parents. Her father is obviously shadowing Harper’s famous character, Atticus Finch. Nelle’s father is also an attorney, so Tru and Nelle like to watch some of the court proceedings. They decide they’d like to be detectives and discover truths. When there is a drugstore theft, Tru and Nelle decide to investigate, leading them to danger. Their investigation is what should make you interested in the novel--as they find clues and find themselves in precarious situations.I think adults will enjoy this novel a bit more because we see the parallels with the author’s lives. Perhaps I’m wrong. Students may see an adventure story that will lead you to works by these authors. To be honest, I was a little bored with the novel. I liked Tru--he’s a brave kid who some would say asks to be bullied by his behavior and dress. He handles it, though. Nelle is portrayed very similarly to Scout, the main character from her novel. I should like all of these parallels, even the short stories added at the end, but I never got past being bored. I’d love my students to read this novel and give me your opinions!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A spirited novel of friendship and adventures between two misfits who find kindred spirits in each other. Definitely saw pleasing echoes of "To Kill a Mockingbird." Some may take offense to "Indian Joe" running a moonshine business and snake fight. There's a scene where the kids witness a Klan cross-burning. Also, you would expect the term "Negro" would be used most often during this period in history, but the author chooses to use "black." These observations aside, kids will vicariously enjoy Tru and Nelle's lively imaginations; a thoughtful adult reading along can provide guidance and context for potentially sensitive issues.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    based on the true life adventures of Truman Capote and Harper Lee as children in Monroeville, Alabama
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This was written for children, but I loved it, as it told of a real-life-friendship between Truman Capote and Nelle Harper Lee. I would never have placed them as friends, but ironically, they grew up in the same neighborhood in Monroevile, Alabama. Tru;s fancy clothes and big-city ways turned off other children, until he meets Nelle. She likes books and is looking for a real-life mystery to solve.This is fiction, so some of it is made up to be able to include the true story. Events have been rearranged into a single small town mystery worthy of their active imaginations..
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    [ARC copy courtesy of publisher]

    This is a simple story that will appeal to nostalgia and has the perfect mix of historicity and fiction to annoy those who want their facts set straight, yet succeeds in making any reader curious to know more. Especially if they enjoy historical fiction, younger readers who have yet to dip into To Kill A Mockingbird will still be captivated by the mystery aspect and relate to themes of feeling like the odd one out, bullying, and the joys of best friends. G. Neri encourages the gift of individuality, and extending friendship to those others might reject. Hopefully this introduction will encourage grade-schoolers to look forward to reading the classics when they mature.

    The back of the book includes miniature episodes of the real childhood escapades of Tru and Nelle as if penned in their own hands, just like the emerging writers they were. It also includes a summary of what became of the two friends after Tru was moved to New York, and as they grew into adults. This was my first introduction to Lee and Capote’s relationship, as well as how connected Harper’s characters are to her own experiences. It is these personal tidbits that, for me, bring characters to life.

    For a complete review including pictures and links see BookOnaCrag


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Tru & Nelle - G. Neri

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