How To Be True - Daisy May Johnson

 

We're back at The School of the Good Sisters and this time it's Edie who is the focus of our attention, having been sent to the school by her grand-mère after her parents left Paris to support protests around the globe.  At first, Edie hated the school but grew to love it when she discovered that the nuns actually teach useful things.  And these useful things come in rather handy when the school trip to Paris stay at the château where Edie's grand-mère lives, for, not long after they arrive, they discover that somebody is trying to steal a painting from the château.  But can Edie and her friends foil the thief, and can they get to the bottom of why this painting is so important to everybody?

After reading and loving How To Be Brave last year (https://kandobonkersaboutbooks.blogspot.com/2021/02/how-to-be-brave-daisy-may-johnson.html), I was absolutely thrilled when How To Be True arrived in the post - it jumped straight to the top of the reading pile and I most certainly wasn't disappointed!  I have a real soft spot for books set in Paris so was excited to join The Good Sisters and the girls on their trip.  We first met Edie in How To Be Brave where we saw some of her determination and panache.  This time, she is the focus of the book and we learn what brought her to the school in the first place, before the Good Sisters take her back to Paris and we see her in her home town doing what she does best: being fabulous and fierce.  She is a wonderful character and I know that readers are going to love her as much as I did - she is somebody I can imagine readers wanting to emulate.

I feel it appropriate that I am typing this review whilst drinking hot chocolate: a tribute to Edie as well as the Sisters!  As with book 1, the references to food are delicious!  The Sister's attitude towards biscuits is one I whole-heartedly applaud (I would most definitely approve of sock biscuit stashes should I discover the children in school were so inclined!) and the addition of French delicacies such as macarons and eclairs only adds to the deliciousness of the book - I can highly recommend having a stash of biscuits and tasty treats to hand whilst reading!

The friendly narration of the book by Good Sister June, the headmistress of the school, remains something I found completely adorable and the footnotes make you feel as though you are getting a more personal insight into everything that is happening, as though you are there with Good Sister June and the girls.  The humour and the playfulness are adorable to read and the familiarity of the writing has a warmth to it that I really enjoy.  However, there is also there is a backstory within the book (a flashback) that sees a change in tone that is completely heart-felt and tugs on the heartstrings.  It's a poignant and very relevant element to the book that made me think and stopped me in my tracks, and I liked the different element that this brought to the story.

With themes of friendship, family, love and fierce determination, I think I loved How To Be True even more than How To Be Brave (and I didn't think that would be possible!)!  Its funny yet poignant plot had me hugging the book at the end and left me craving more (more of the book as well as biscuits and pastries!).  Yes, I know that How To Be True isn't out until the 7th July so I have ages to wait, but a girl can hope!  In the meantime, I guess I'll just have to nibble biscuits and macarons whilst planning exactly where I'll be going when I'm in Paris this summer - and yes, the Laudrée shop on the Champs-Élysées will be on the list!