This Terrible True Thing, Jenny Laden
This Terrible True Thing, Jenny Laden
2 Rating(s)
List: $19.95 | Sale: $13.97
Club: $9.97

This Terrible True Thing
A Visual Novel

Author: Jenny Laden

Narrator: Gail Shalan

Unabridged: 11 hr 20 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 09/05/2023

Includes: Bonus Material Bonus Material Included

Synopsis

In this heartbreaking multimedia debut—filled with drawings, poems, and journal entries—author Jenny Laden draws on her own experience to create a story of grief and transcendence, perfect for fans of Francesca Zappia and Jennifer Niven.Danielle Silver is a Philadelphia high school senior at the dawn of the ’90s. Ever since her parents split up, she has known her father was gay, but she never expected to be hit with the bombshell that he is HIV positive. As he sickens, and AIDS starts to claim the lives of his friends, Danielle searches for silver linings while trying to balance paralyzing fear, grief, her social life, and schoolwork—capturing all the feelings as adolescence and some hard facts collide.

About Jenny Laden

Jenny Laden was born in Philadelphia and began painting at the age of nine. She studied art and art history at Barnard College and received her master’s degree in fine art from New York University. She has exhibited in New York; Chicago; Washington, DC; McLean; Richmond; Miami; Philadelphia; San Francisco; and Berlin, and had work in multiple publications. After her father’s death in 1996, she became an HIV/AIDS educator in New York City and worked with C.O.L.A.G.E. (Children of Lesbians and Gays Everywhere). She lives in Philadelphia with her family.

About Gail Shalan

Gail Shalan is a storyteller based in New York City. She has narrated books for Tantor, HighBridge, Blackstone, Chatterbox Audio with Audible UK, Spoken Realms, and more. She is also a narrator and producer on The StoryLight Podcast (available wherever you listen to podcasts). She holds an MFA in acting from the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and has worked in both the US and UK in theater, film, and voice-over. Gail is also a puppeteer and one half of the International folk duo The Strange Bedfellows.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Richard on August 31, 2023

May be primarily intended for a young audience, but at 57 I found this book to be extraordinary. Deeply moving, at times very funny, with certain sentences that capture familiar feelings so well that they stay with you. Like the author, I also worry about the era and experiences the book describes g......more

Goodreads review by Claire on March 01, 2024

An absolutely stunning novel depicting a young woman who, while finishing her senior year of high school, is forced to confront her father's mortality as he battles AIDS during the night of the epidemic. I'd recommend this book to anyone and hope it continues to gain popularity!......more

Goodreads review by Margi on September 10, 2023

Thank you Netgalley and Blackstone for the ARC. Fans of John Green, Jennifer Niven, and Bill Konigsberg will appreciate this story about friendship, family, and heartache. Set in the 90’s in Philadelphia and at a boarding school, this YA novel tells the story of Danielle, a high school senior, who le......more

Goodreads review by Dayna on November 12, 2023

This book is somehow heavy, devastating, and heartwarming all in one. It’s a beautiful look into the family we’re born into and the family we create for ourselves. Heart wrenching and painfully beautiful.......more

Goodreads review by Ainslee on September 29, 2024

I really liked this book. There was a small cute romance aspect with quite the twist that I enjoyed. The rest was super sad and heart wrenching. It was well written beautifully said.......more

Quotes

“A generous-spirited, beautifully human, elegiac first novel of love, family, loss, and the transformative power of art that will crack open your heart and make new room inside. I wish I’d had this book years ago.”   Libba Bray, #1 New York Times bestselling author

"A 90s nostalgia trip that, for once, doesn’t ignore the AIDS epidemic, but rather tackles it head on with heart and dignity, This Terrible True Thing authentically portrays the tension of living in two worlds—neither of which you feel you fully belong in…Witty, earnest, educational, and deeply cathartic all at once.”  Jackson Bird, writer, performer, and LGBTQ+ advocate

“With crisp writing, elegant illustrations, and characters who just burst with life and authenticity, Jenny Laden delivers a moving, finely crafted story that immerses you into the soul-wrenching early years of the AIDS epidemic. You’ll laugh. You’ll cry. You’ll love this triumph of a book.” Neal Bascomb, New York Times bestselling author of The Grand Escape

“This Terrible True Thing is a brilliant blow-by-blow about what it means to love someone who adores you, and then lose them right when you need them the most. Art-love suffuses every page. There are many passages I wish I could have written…Jenny Laden’s witty voice and sharp powers of observation make for a unique, fresh, and important debut.” Justin Evans, acclaimed author of A Good and Happy Child

“In This Terrible True Thing, Jenny captures the confusion and sadness of the dark days of AIDS, when the closet was still the norm and those who feared judgment were bound by secrecy. Through her intimate voice and illustrations, she powerfully conveys the experience of being a teenager caught between worlds: the straight world and the queer world, childhood and adulthood, secure love and incomprehensible loss. The novel is also about a young woman’s political awakening and what it means to be an artist not just of the world but in the world. This is a tender story, a beautiful story. I loved reading it.” Alysia Abbott, author of Fairyland: A Memoir of My Father

“A new visual novel set in the Philly area turns the author’s own tragedy into a tale of redemption…Laden has crafted an emotionally rich portrait of grief against a backdrop of change.” R. Eric Thomas, bestselling author of Here for It

Awards

  • Philadelphia Inquirer
  • Queer Bookdom Blog
  • Reads Rainbow Pick
  • Publishers Weekly Pick
  • BookRiot Pick
  • Audie Award
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