Betty Culley

"Three Things I Know Are True" is a beautifully written novel in free verse that explores the raw edges of grief, love, and resilience.

Five months ago, Liv’s brother, Jonah, accidentally shot himself with a loaded gun belonging to a friend’s father. Now, Jonah is permanently disabled, unable to walk, talk, or care for himself, and their home is filled with nurses and machines just to keep him alive. Liv becomes his fiercest protector, refusing to give up on the brother she believes is show more still in there somewhere.

Liv is the kind of sister everyone should have - sharp, strong, fiercely loyal, and full of heart. Despite her own pain, she takes on the weight of Jonah’s care, driven by love and a quiet hope. Unlike her mother, she doesn’t blame Clay, Jonah’s best friend, for the accident, even though it was his father’s gun they found.

The nursing staff who care for Jonah are also a quiet highlight of the story - tender, patient, and deeply human. Their presence adds an extra layer of warmth and compassion to the novel.

Overall, "Three Things I Know Are True" is a moving and thought-provoking YA read that deals with tragedy and healing in a way that feels both intimate and honest. While it is a story about loss, it is also about friendship, forgiveness, and the quiet strength it takes to keep going. A wonderful read. show less

Betty captures the essence of rural Maine and how people who live there deal with financial and emotional adversity as they affect tweens and teens better than anyone. It's on par with the skill Gerry Boyle has to capture those realities for adults.
In this book, readers follow Harvard and his five year old brother Roger during the summer they, and their grieving father come to Kettle Hole, Maine where Dad grew up. Their father, a pediatrician, is still frozen by guilt and sadness following show more his mistake that led to the death of a five month old infant in his care.
Once back in Kettle Hole, they rent the home of eleven year old Neveah and her dad who are struggling with medical bills left from her mom's death from cancer. They live in the barn so they can rent out the house to help whittle down the bills.
What ensues includes the ants featured in the title, a growing friendship between Harvard and Neveah, her illness, plenty of ant information very skillfully woven into the narrative, tons of humanity and a discovery by Harvard (one which long time Mainers are likely to realize early on), and that welcome feeling one finds when returning to a childhood place. It's well worth having in any library. show less

It's very clear that Betty Culley has experienced some of the emotional landscape in this book, either personally or professionally. She also captures hardscrabble Maine, the part I'm very familiar with, as well as Gerry Boyle. Written in verse form, this takes readers through a bleak physical and emotional landscape, part of rural Maine where hope left when the local mill closed, sadly a reality in more and more towns. What transpires as you follow the events after Jonah accidentally shoots show more himself in the head, is first a fracturing between neighbors, so well described as Liv and Clay's mom meet on the yellow line dividing the dead end street where they live like it was a demilitarized zone. Then you follow Jonah's care, with the personalities of the nurses caring for him playing their own roles, Liv's feelings about her brother, as well as Clay, the boy who was her brother's best friend and who she cares deeply about, then the events leading up to the negligence trial, pitting Clay's family against Liv's. You get to see Liv's inner monologue as she tries to connect with her brother in his new, nearly unresponsive form, deal with how unimportant school becomes and go through the trial and its aftermath. One scene that really illustrates the plight of those struggling when wages and benefits are inadequate, or nonexistent, comes when Liv deals with her mom's tooth. Read the book to see what happened. This is an excellent look at struggle, grief, love and the real Maine. show less

I thought Betty's first YA book was outstanding, but this is even better. She continues to capture the essence of rural Maine, but in this story does the same for a teen searching for answers, her biological family and to understand why her adoptive mom is so cruel. Reading her thoughts/insight as the story progresses make you realize just how insightful Rynn truly is. We tend to forget that quality in teens and we shouldn't. The supporting characters are all well drawn and highly relatable show more as well as seeming like real Mainers. An excellent story. show less