A Girl, Golf, and Graduation

10 Truths and a Dare by Ashley Elston

We’re full of bad ideas. So what’s one more?

High school graduation is here and Olivia is ready for this. So ready. She has worked HARD, taking every AP class that she could fit into her schedule, while maintaining a high GPA and has earned her ranking as class Salutatorian. Everyone in her large closely-knit family will be there to honor her. It will be her proud moment.

​When a friend refers to Salutatorian as “runner up,” Cousin Charlie responds. "So, if the valedictorian can’t perform their duties, does the crown pass to you?" Yes, the dialog is loaded with snark.

There is a wrinkle. Olivia learns that the required P.E. credit for her off-campus golf has not been honored. Without this credit, she will not graduate. The golf coach offers to waive her excessive absences and sign her P.E. form if she will work as his assistant during a local golf tournament.

There is yet another wrinkle. Olivia's parents are out of town and have installed a tracker on her phone to keep constant surveillance on their daughter. Not wanting to reveal her graduation dilemma, Olivia concocts an elaborate scheme to trade phones with her cousins throughout the tournament. They will take Olivia's phone to locations where she should be and respond to mom as her daughter would.

The phone exchanges result in numerous complications including Cousin Sophie getting stuck while escaping through a bathroom window and Charlie attempting to field his aunt’s question about the appropriate bra for a party ensemble.

"Now is not the time for I told you so."
"This is the exact perfect time for I told you so. Never, ever has there been a time when I told you so was more needed."

There are even more problems: some trivial, many hilarious, and a few that are heartbreaking. Olivia realizes that she has made errors in judgement on several counts. Can she get everything straightened out before graduation? Readers will keep turning pages in Ashley Elston's contemporary comedy of errors with a side of sweet romance.  ​10 Truths and a Dare is great fun.

Uncorrected copy provided by publisher.

Pub date: May 4, 2021  Publisher: Disney-Hyperion  ISBN:  978-1368062381