The Truth About Leaving by Natalie Blitt

Summary: Lucy Green thought she had her senior year in the bag. Cute boyfriend? Check. College plan? Check. But when her boyfriend dumps her the week before school starts and she literally stumbles into Dov, the new Israeli transfer student, on her first day of school, Lucy’s carefully mapped-out future crumbles. Determined to have a good senior year, and too busy trying to hold her family together while her mom is across the country working, Lucy ignores the attraction she feels to Dov. But soon, Lucy and Dov’s connection is undeniable. Lucy begins to realize that sometimes, you have to open yourself up to chance. Even if the wrong person at the wrong time is a boy whose bravery you admire and who helps you find your way back to yourself.

Here’s the truth about The Truth About Leaving – this book broke me in the best way possible. Lucy is such a caring, open-hearted character, a girl who, as many girls are taught to do, takes care of everyone else’s needs before her own. So it’s perhaps inevitable when she falls for handsome, damaged Dov. Blitt gives us a portrait of two young people with a strong sense of responsibility and honor – and their romance both honors that in both of them and helps each find their own path, even when that means finding the courage to stand up for their own needs. I was honestly not sure how Blitt would be able to pull a satisfying ending out of their predicament, but oh yes, she did, and I’ll be thinking about Lucy and Dov and this gem of a book for a long time.

The Truth About Leaving is out now.

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