The Truth According to Blue

Yohalem, Eve. The Truth According to Blue
May 12th 2020 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Blue Broen lives in a coastal town with her hard working parents and her diabetic alert German Shepherd, Otis. She's struggled with diabetes since she was young, but Otis can alert her to highs and lows so she can try to manage her condition with as little input from her parents as possible, since they worry. She's tired of being the girl with diabetes, so has big plans for the summer-- she's finally going to find the treasure her family is rumored to have brought to the US, but which supposedly went down in a ship not far from her home. She plans on taking out the family boat and looking for the treasure during her vacation, telling her parents she needs to work on a "school project", but runs in to two complications-- she's forced to hang out every day with Jules, the daughter of a visiting movie star, and she is dismayed to find another group investigating the same waters. She and Jules take a while to warm up to each other, but take lots of risks in their search. Blue also must prepare for a diabetes fund raiser that Jules' father is helping with, as well as deal with high and low blue sugar. When the other group gets a restraining order against Blue, her parents find out and put a kibosh on the whole thing, but relent just a bit. Is it enough time for Blue and Jules to solve the centuries old mystery and provide more money for Blue's family?
Strengths: There are a lot of details about living with Type 1 diabetes that will be interesting to students who don't know anything about this condition. Every year, I have one or two students who live with diabetes, so this is helpful. In the last few years, there have been more Continuous Glucose Monitors worn by students, so I found it interesting to hear about Blue's testing and struggles that lead her to decide to get one. Assistant dogs are always interesting, and Otis is a charming helper. Also, he DOES NOT DIE, although Blue is worried that he is getting older. Jules was an interesting character who became more likable during the book. The treasure mystery wasn't too far fetched. I liked the active and almost overly involved parents, and I think they are very representative of parents of a child with diabetes. Yes, a CGM can send reports to a parent's phone!
Weaknesses: This took a while to get into, and it didn't help that Blue and Jules did a lot of very dangerous and ill conceived things during their search for the treasure.
What I really think: Debating. I really enjoyed the details of living with diabetes, and the only other book that has these that I can think of is Another D for Deedee. The sunken treasure mystery reminded me of something else I'd read, and might be hard to get students to pick up, but I will most likely buy this one.