Shared Community Reading for Kids, Teens, and Families

Register below to join your neighbors, read together, and keep our community strong

The Whatcom County Library System invites kids, teen and families to participate in a shared community reading of The Truth as Told by Mason Buttle, by Leslie Connor. This heartfelt middle-grade novel is especially well-suited to kids and teens, and their families, but has meaningful things to say about perseverance and friendship to people of all ages.

It was a finalist for the 2018 National Book Award, and it received the 2019 Schneider Family Book Award honoring a book portraying the disability experience for youth.

Mason Buttle struggles to make friends. He is big for his 12 years (really big), he sweats profusely, he can’t read, and he doesn’t generally understand what people really mean. He had a friend once, Benny Kilmartin, but Benny died mysteriously. Mason found him at the bottom of a ladder in Mason’s own orchard and though the police investigated, no one knows what happened. This year is one more struggle, with bullies on one side and family troubles on the other. But time in Mrs. Blinny’s SWOOF room makes things OK, and Mason has a new friend in tiny Calvin Chumsky. But now Calvin has gone missing, and the police are back, suspicious of Mason all over again. Will Mason be able to tell the truth about what happened? Will anyone listen? Taut drama, rich characterizations, and incredible heart combine in this resonant story about what it takes to see the best in others, and what it means to be yourself.

WCLS has arranged for unlimited digital copies of the ebook and eaudiobook for download. All you need is your WCLS library card number or ConnectEd account. If you need help getting your copies our friendly staff are here to help, answering phones every day from 1-5, chatting live, and responding to email. Shared Community Reading is a WCLS@Home program.