Nothing But The Truth (novel)

Philip Malloy, a ninth-grader at Harrison High School in the town of Harrison, New Hampshire, wants to join the track team but cannot due to the fact that he failed his English class. Because of this, he becomes angry at his English teacher, Miss Narwin, whom he feels is "out to get [him]."

After being transferred into Miss Narwin's homeroom after the semester break, Philip schemes to provoke her to reassign him to a different homeroom. While the Star-Spangled Banner is playing over the PA system during the morning announcements, he deliberately hums along with it in spite of being told to be silent, his excuse being that he was allowed to do this in his previous homeroom class, which was run by Mr. Bernard Lunser. Over the next three days, despite constantly being told to stop, Philip continues to hum along with the anthem, prompting Miss Narwin to send him to the assistant principal's office twice over the course of those three days, and he is eventually suspended for being disrespectful. He insists (partly due to encouragement from his father), however, that he is standing up for his patriotic rights and, through his spinning of the tale, convinces his parents that he is being suspended for singing the National Anthem.

His father tells the story to his friend and neighbor Ted Griffen, a candidate for the Harrison High school board, who immediately takes up the cause of fighting against what he sees as the suppression of patriotism in the school. A reporter from the local newspaper interviews and writes about Philip and others involved in his suspension, and the incident escalates as the Associated Press also writes a news story about him. This story is then picked up by a radio talk show host, who condemns the suppression of American patriotism and suggests that people write to Philip and Narwin about their opinions on the issue. Messages condemning Miss Narwin and praising Philip flood in from across the country. Another reporter interviews Narwin and writes an article defending her, but it is not printed because the news is dominated by the coverage of an international crisis at the time.

In the end, Miss Narwin is asked to take a sabbatical, and Philip ends up attending the Washington Academy. Miss Narwin interprets the sabbatical as an invitation to resign and goes to live with her sister in Florida. The book ends with Philip crying when his new homeroom teacher asks him to lead the class in singing the National Anthem, because, as he says, he doesn't know the words.