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What I Saw and How I Lied

Judy Blundell

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What Members Thought

Oct 13, 2015 Erin rated it it was amazing

Shelves: book-riot-read-harder-challenge, young-adult

WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS IN THE NEXT PARAGRAPH FOR BOTH THIS BOOK AND ANOTHER BOOK - all are hidden, but venture no further without heeding the warning.....

I was a bit surprised by this book, mostly because out of my last three reads, two of them (this and (view spoiler). Of course, with this book, it kind of gives it away right in the title.....the reader just isn't sure abo ...more

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Dec 08, 2008 Jackie "the Librarian" rated it really liked it

Shelves: awardwinners, youngadult, historicalfiction, bildungsroman, thriller

This young adult National Book Award winner reads like a mash up between Starring Sally J. Freedman As Herself, and The Great Gatsby, done in an overheated noir style. It is about a precocious teenager relocated to Florida in the 40s after the war, and a handsome young man who presents himself as someone he's not. The characters are motivated by greed and desire, and we are left unsure of what happened, just like Evie. But what Evie does learn is enough to change her from a naive girl to an adul This young adult National Book Award winner reads like a mash up between Starring Sally J. Freedman As Herself, and The Great Gatsby, done in an overheated noir style. It is about a precocious teenager relocated to Florida in the 40s after the war, and a handsome young man who presents himself as someone he's not. The characters are motivated by greed and desire, and we are left unsure of what happened, just like Evie. But what Evie does learn is enough to change her from a naive girl to an adult. It was evocative, and gripping, and the tension kept me turning the pages to find out how it was all going to turn out.

Evie is almost sixteen, and ready to grow up, despite her mother's resistance. Her main preoccupation is her desire to "fill out a sweater". So when her step-father Joe, a WWII vet and successful owner of three appliance stores, announces out of the blue that they are going to Florida for a vacation, she doesn't wonder about it too much, or connect it to the persistent phone calls he's been getting from an old war buddy. She just thinks of it as a chance to remake herself in a new setting.

Turns out, that old war buddy is hard to shake. He turns up at the hotel in Florida a few days after they arrive. Evie meets him by the pool, where she's fled after crashing a ball unsuccessfully. Her attempt at dressing up in one of her mother's dresses and stuffed bra went poorly, but Peter's kind interest makes Evie's night.

Peter is twenty-three, handsome, and apparently wealthy, but Evie doesn't care about the age difference. All she can think about is how his arms felt around her when they danced beside the pool. And sometimes, Peter doesn't seem to care either. He takes Evie and her beautiful young mother, Beverly, out to the movies, and for seashore drives.

Her step-father is preoccupied with setting up a business deal with the Graysons, a couple looking for someone to go in with them on buying the hotel, and restoring its fading glamour. Mrs. Grayson takes on Evie in the same way, making her over into a beauty with new clothes and a flattering new hairstyle.

Then the business deal falls apart, the Graysons leave, and Peter's pestering gets more persistent. He tells Evie the truth about what happened in Europe, and Joe's wealth. Things come to a head as a hurricane approaches Florida. Evie never knows for sure what happens then, and neither do we. I liked how this book left things uncertain, and yet clear enough for Evie to see her parents in a new, unflattering light.

Unsettling, but in a good way. Recommended especially for teen girls, ages 13 and up. ...more

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Jan 02, 2009 Jess rated it liked it

Shelves: historical-fiction, young-adult, national-book-award

The details in this book are fabulous - you really feel yourself in post-WWII America, full of new extravagances and men home from the war. The clothes, the food, the Florida weather are all tangible, as is Evie's desire to act and feel more like a grown-up. The plot is compelling, with delightful shades of Rebecca. I never really attached to the character of Evie, but otherwise it was a great combo of suspense, historical fiction, and glam. There's a suspicious death, hidden crimes, and hints a ...more

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Jan 14, 2009 Joanna added it

Shelves: fiction, youngadult, 2009, 2009favorite

"I'd been noticing lately that Margie had grown a sense of authority along with her breasts. Who knows, maybe her mother had laid out womanly wisdom on her bed along with her new brassiere. Mrs. Crotty had six kids. She ran a snappy household. Systems for everything." ...more

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