Summary

In the “Prologue,” Anna McDonald notes that it is foolish to teach children to tell the truth because no one wants to hear the truth. She notes that the truth ruined her life. When a man tried to kill her because she told the truth, she ran away and changed her name. She did not discuss anything that was related to that point in her life, like house fires, Gretchen Teigler, or football. She made up her mind that she was no longer Sophie Bukaran. Anna indicates that she is telling her story again for a less laudable reason, but one she believes more people will be able to relate to. She stresses that this version of the story is the truth.

In Chapter 1, Anna was the first of her family awake on the day that her “life exploded” (1). She hurried downstairs...