What I Saw and How I lied

What I Saw and How I Lied by Judy Blundell

ISBN:  9780439903486
New York:  Scholastic Press, 2008

Plot - Evie Spooner's step dad is finally home to Brooklyn from being overseas in WWII, and the family can begin getting back to normal.  Evie is 15 and ready to blossom, she hopes, into a gorgeous and glamorous woman like her young mother, Bev.  Joe, Evie's step father, is uninspired to return to his life as a salesman in New York, and in need of a vacation after the war, so he packs the family up for a long vacation in Palm Beach, Florida.  There, Evie meets the love of her life, 23 year old Peter Coleridge, and the family meets a couple, the Graysons, that welcome them exceptionally warmly into their lives.  Bev insinuates herself between Evie and Peter almost immediately, as any mother might do between her underage daughter and an older man, but her motives, it turns out are not altruistic.  This is only the beginning of what Evie begins to see about the world and the grownups who surround her that is shocking and full of betrayal.  When an ill-fated boat trip ends in disaster, and Evie is swept up in her own painful events, her innocence and trust are worn to the point that she, too, learns how to betray the truth.

Critical Evaluation -What I Saw and How I Lied is a fast-paced, thrilling mystery with as much to offer in historical realism and character development as in plot twists.  Evie's transformation, told in her own words, physical and emotional, from child to woman is as painful to watch as it is inevitable because of the jaded quality her maturity takes based on what she sees around her.  Her step father and mother are painted with equally detailed strokes, and although they abandon Evie's need for protection for their own satisfactions, they are full characters with reasons and history behind their actions.  The romance between Peter and Evie is dangerous and irresistible, as we learn about it from Evie's perspective of first love.  And Blundell wraps the whole story in not just details of late 1940s America, but in the entire mileau--language, assumptions, and post-war, post-depression growth.

Reader's annotation -Evie is innocence personified, but everyone must grow up at some time, and how Evie chooses to cross that line will determine how the world unfolds for her from then on.
Genre - YA mystery/fiction
Curriculum Ties - May be useful in theater classes looking to understand the look and especially the feel of post-WWII America.
Booktalk ideas - 

1. Read the passage where Joe finds Peter sitting at the table with his wife and daughter.  Begin with "Peter Coleridge, Peter said,..." and end on pg. 59 with, "...I only heard the familiarity."
2. Evie wants to grow up, and fast.  When she and her parents visit Palm Beach, she has the opportunity to see what growing up fast is like, but by the time she understands, it might be too late to do it in a way she would rather.

Reading level - 15+ 

Challenge issues - a young woman learning how to deceive, manipulate, and betray

Challenge defense ideas:

• Librarian must read the book carefully and include it as a resource intended for older teens.
• Librarian greets students and regularly discusses their reading choices; she provides individualized, age-appropriate guidance in book choice.
• Explain the ways in which the librarian accompanies and guides younger students looking for books, and knows students well as individuals. 

Why I included this book - It's a fantastic story and the writing is wonderful.  Watching the world through Evie's innocent eyes, until they are not so innocent, the young reader has the chance to watch her make choices under the influence of not-so-grownups.  Many of our young people today must manage this very situation in one way or another, and having this great read as a reflection of their situations is wonderful.  It's also a 2008 National Book Award winner.