Cover of The Mostly True Story of Jack

The Mostly True Story of Jack

Newbery Medal-winner Kelly Barnhill's debut novel is an eerie tale of magic, friendship, and sacrifice.

Enter a world where magic bubbles just below the surface. . . .

Read more

When Jack is sent to Hazelwood, Iowa, to live with his strange aunt and uncle, he expects a summer of boredom. Little does he know that the people of Hazelwood have been waiting for him for quite a long time. When he arrives, he begins to make actual friends for the first time in his life-but the town bully beats him up and the richest man in town begins to plot Jack's imminent, and hopefully painful, demise. It's up to Jack to figure out why suddenly everyone cares so much about him. Back home he was practically... invisible.

The Mostly True Story of Jackis a stunning debut novel about things broken, things put back together, and finding a place to belong.

"There's a dry wit and playfulness to Barnhill's writing that recalls Lemony Snicket and Blue Balliett...a delightfully unusual gem." —Los Angeles Times

Themes
friendship
Setting
Iowa
Audience
childrensmiddle gradeyoung adult
Length
medium · 323 pages

Click a tag to see books like this one that share it.

Read it? Sign in to help tag it.

Liked The Mostly True Story of Jack? Here’s where I’d start.

These suit anyone who liked The Mostly True Story of Jack. Sign in and mark a few books for picks shaped around your own taste.

  1. Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes Shares fantasy, childrens, middle grade
  2. Anni Moon & The Elemental Artifact Shares fantasy, childrens, middle grade
  3. Juniper Berry Shares fantasy, middle grade, childrens
  4. Dragon Castle Shares fantasy, middle grade, young adult

“People who read The Mostly True Story of Jack tend to reach for these next.”

  1. The Boy at the End of the World
  2. Bigger than a Bread Box
  3. The Flint Heart
  4. The Rise and Fall of Mount Majestic

“If you want more of the same (fantasy about friendship), start with these.”

  1. Any Which Wall
  2. Here Lies Linc
  3. The Trap
  4. The Flinkwater Factor

“Readers describe these the same way.”

  1. Wildwood
  2. Scumble
  3. Jinx
  4. The Traitor of Belltroll

“These start from a similar idea, even if they go somewhere else with it.”

  1. A Turn of Light
  2. Somebody Tell Aunt Tillie She's Dead
  3. Just a Little Kiss
  4. What the Doctor Ordered