2015 GOVERNOR GENERAL'S AWARD WINNER 
​children's literature -- text

​​​RED MAPLE AWARDS -- 2016 NOMINEE
SNOW WILLOW AWARDS -- 2016 NOMINEE
GEOFFREY BILSON AWARD FOR HISTORICAL FICTION -- 2015 shortlist
AMY MATHERS TEEN BOOK AWARD -- 2015 shortlist
CLA YOUNG ADULT BOOK AWARD -- 2015 Honour Book
OTTAWA BOOK AWARD -- 2015 finalist

Every voice that speaks from Caroline Pignat's pen is clear and resounds with every word spoken or not....She has the gift for novel in verse, not simply writing prose in verse form.  Just as a good novelist doesn't tell everything, allowing the reader to interpret, surmise and read into the text, a great writer of novel in verse tells even more in fewer words.  Pamela Porter, Martine Leavitt and now Caroline Pignat. As for the story, think The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill in free verse for younger readers and with more soul. A perfect bundle of story, voice and form–that's The Gospel Truth by Caroline Pignat.

CanLit for Little Canadians review by Helen Kubiw

Caroline Pignat's The Gospel Truth is the powerful and poignant story of 16-year-old Phoebe, a slave girl in 1858 Virginia. Written in lyrical and elegant free verse, it is an unflinching look at the brutality of slavery and Phoebe’s struggle for freedom and truth. Ultimately, this is a story of hope.

Governor General's Award Jury

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Boldly written in free verse, The Gospel Truth tells the story of sixteen-year-old Phoebe, a slave girl living on a Virginia plantation in the mid-nineteenth century. Phoebe’s voice is strong and authentic, the plotting sure and the hard life on the plantation vividly portrayed. The Gospel Truth is a wonderful adventure story and more: a tale of courage, an indomitable spirit, and the power of reading and writing to fuel the dream of freedom.

Ottawa Book Award Jury
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While stories of slavery are plentiful, this story of enslavement is unique in its voice, structure and storylines... The characters are well rounded and actualized and the story told in free verse in alternative points of view is brought vividly to life through Pignat’s pen… Phoebe’s story resonates strongly throughout this well-researched and captivating poetic and sparse telling.

CCBC - Geoffrey Bilson Award Judges

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Telling the story from multiple points of view, she provides a nuanced, multifaceted perspective on truth and freedom, and a realistic rendering of that time in history… Moving, lyrical and intriguing, this is a story that will captivate readers of all ages.

CCBC - Amy Mathers Teen Book Award Judges

In poetry that is spare and beautiful, Pignat carefully, exquisitely depicts the reality of that time and of those lives. Here, the things that are left unsaid are as powerful as the harsh and simple truths that are clearly stated.  
...intricately and beautifully woven story whose characters are vividly and authentically depicted. Each voice is succinctly captured, and the story that the author tells is a realistic rendering of a piece of history that reveals timeless truths about humanity and the indomitable nature of the human spirit.

Highly Recommended 4/4 star rating -- Canadian Review of Materials

Choosing to tell it in verse, as well as in multiple voices, proves her mettle as a chronicler of history and the creator of brilliant characters.

Sal's Fiction Addiction  (great review, contains some spoilers)

a compelling story about a period in history that continues to teach all of us valuable lessons – lessons about abuse and human trafficking, and the ability to rise above it; lessons about human dignity; lessons that, even in today’s world, still need repeating

The Montreal Gazette

 a perfect book for young adults who want to approach the history of American slavery more critically... if you have a reader who is too young to appreciate Frederick Douglass or too squeamish for Harriet Jacobs, you won’t find a better introduction to the subject than Caroline Pignat’s.  

Ottawa Life Magazine 

haunting... captivating... rich with moments of poetic beauty.  ... the lyric minimalism of Pignat's narrative shows us a multitude of truths.

Rating: Excellent  by Resources Links 

Pignat is the master of the understatement — never explicit, but always hinting at a dangerous subtext that sophisticated readers will immediately understand. Although the concept of an entire novel written in free verse might intimidate some readers, Pignat’s plot moves quickly and her language is accessible, artfully weaving the narratives of six separate characters with an unerring instinct for the rhythmic vernacular of the Old South. 

Powerful, heartbreaking, and occasionally ironic, The Gospel Truth is a carefully constructed series of puzzle pieces that, when put together, reveal a brilliantly imagined piece of historical fiction.

The Gospel Truth review by Karen Doerksen, National Reading Campaign

...It is the poetic beauty of the spoken, as well as the unspoken word; the careful arrangement, and the cadence of the speech, that elevates The Gospel Truth from another good story about American slavery, to an amazing and poignant portrayal of the human spirit.

The Fun Librarian