If your mother can't seem to tell the truth...how true is your life? Meg May doesn't know what's true. And she needs to find out. Imaginative and free-spirited, Meg's mother created a life out of stories. Outlandish stories, really, the kind you can't possibly believe—unless your mother won't tell you anything else about your past. After all, how do you argue with someone who tells you that a spaghetti plant sprouted on your first birthday, that you used to take hot dogs for a walk, or that your father died in a tragic pastry-mixing accident? But as charming as those stories are, they aren't enough for Meg anymore. When her mother becomes ill, Meg decides she has to know the truth. As the two spend one last summer together, Meg can't convince her mother to reveal a thing about who they used to be—or who they are now. A delicious debut, full of warmth and quirky humor, From the Kitchen of Half Truth explores the stories we tell ourselves and others in order to create the lives we want. From the Kitchen of Half Truth, which won the Derby Short Story Competition, is Maria Goodin's first novel. "Beautifully conveyed...delicate and magical. Happy to recommend this book!"—Marilyn Lustig, Wellesley Books, Wellesley, MA "From the Kitchen of Half Truth depicts a complicated mother-daughter relationship that anyone can appreciate."—Jessilyn Norcross, McLean and Eaken Booksellers, Peroskey, MI