When Lucy’s boyfriend breaks up with her a week before the start of senior year, she vows it will be a year of no entanglements, a year of fun with her best friend Maddie. That is until she literally falls on the new guy at school, Dov, who has deep blue eyes and is very restrained. Assigned as partners in English literature class, they open up as they discuss poems with meaning in their lives. Dov is in the United States for a year before returning to Israel for his compulsory military service. Lucy’s life consists of tending to her two younger brothers because her mother works 1,500 miles away. She had given up the dancing that she loved to be closer to her ex-boyfriend and has yet to return to it. Additionally her parents want her to attend a local college after she graduates, but Lucy has not decided what she wants. No matter how much she tries to avoid it, she falls deeply in love with Dov.

The Truth About Leaving is a different spin on young adult romance and self-discovery. Dov’s issues include the death of his brother and absentee parents. Lucy’s lesbian grandmother and her partner are sickeningly sweet as they advise Lucy. Her father is silent while her mother demands Lucy stay local to help with the family the mother essentially deserted. Maddie is the only rational voice. The ending is an unsatisfying ‘best of all worlds’ compromise. This is readable but non-essential. ( )