When two unlikely friends bond over shared compassion for a bereft but lovable dog,they learn what it truly means to find a sense of belonging and identity. 11-year-olds Gladys and Jude live in the same smallrust belt townand go to the same schoolbut they are definitely not friends. Gladys is a tinyeccentricwalking dictionary who doesnΓÇÖt hesitate to express herselfwhile Jude likes to keep his thoughts and feelings to himself. But they both agree that a new dog in the neighborhood is being mistreated by its owner. Gladys would like to do something to help while Jude is more resigned to the situation until the dog (who Gladys has named True Blue) disappears. They hatch a plan to find her and once they dorealize they have a problem: GladysΓÇÖs father is allergic and JudeΓÇÖs mother hates dogs. There is no way they can bring her home. They hide True Blue in an abandoned house on the edge of townbut as their ties to the dog–and to one another–deepenso does the impossibility of keeping such a big secret. Yet giving True up will break all three of their hearts. Told in alternating voices set in a smallrust-belt townTrue Blue is a story about familyidentityand finding friends in unexpected places.