It Rhymes with Truth

In Miller’s poignant debut, an elderly woman takes in a homeless boy and the pair get into mischief. Ruth spies the unnamed eight-year-old narrator outside her retirement home, eating sunflower seeds from her bird feeder because he’s starving. She invites him inside for cookies, and they bond while watching baseball on TV. She secretly allows him to stay, defying the building’s restrictions on overnight guests and insisting he hide whenever someone comes to the door. They also have a rule against talking about the past; it’s too painful, Ruth explains. In addition to watching baseball, they pull pranks on Ms. Millie, a neighbor Ruth dislikes, such as ordering pizza for her under the name Innedova Bath. When Ms. Millie catches the narrator living there and threatens to report Ruth, the pair takes drastic measures to silence her. More trouble follows, and when Ruth suffers a head injury, their roles reverse as the narrator attempts to care for her while holding onto his new home. Miller convincingly portrays the characters’ uncommon friendship as their initial caution fades and they go to great lengths to stay together. Miller’s curveball coming-of-age tale lands in the strike zone. (Self-published)