Module 1: What I Saw and How I Lied

Blundell, Judy. What I Saw and How I Lied. New York: Scholastic, 2008.

ISBN-13: 9780439903462

Summary:

What I Saw and How I Lied by Judy Blundell is set in Queens, 1947 at the end of World War II. Narrator, fifteen year-old Evie, lives with her knockout gorgeous mother, Beverly and stepfather, Joe Spooner. Joe has recently returned home from the war. He owns his own business, and buys Evie’s mother expensive jewelry. Evie is anxious for life to get back to normal, but not for summer to end. After receiving a mysterious phone call, Joe announces that they will be leaving for Florida for a week long vacation. Evie is excited to “jump in the car and drive hundreds of miles, just to chase summer. It didn’t feel like anyone was chasing us. Not at all” (27).

Once in Florida, they meet only a few people. Tom and Arlene Grayson own a small hotel in New York. Peter Coleridge is a handsome ex-GI that was in Joe’s company during the war. As Joe builds a relationship with Tom, Evie spends time with Peter, chaperoned by her mother, of course. The vacation is extended as Joe decides to become business partners with Tom Grayson and Evie falls in love with Peter.

Several things happen that changed Evie’s life. The business deal falls through, a hurricane changes course, and a boating accident leaves Evie’s parents as murder suspects. Evie learns that everything she believed was a lie, and now it was her turn. Would she lie to save her parents or her first love?

Analysis:

Blundell builds the tension in this historical fiction mystery through dialogue and social situations. Even though some of the language is antiquated, teens will be able to relate to Evie in her experience of first love, first heartbreak, and first true test of loyalty. After all, Evie says it best when she says, “Loyalty counted the most in my neighborhood” (12).

Reviews:

Using pitch-perfect dialogue and short sentences filled with meaning, Blundell has crafted a suspenseful, historical mystery that not only subtly explores issues of post–WWII racism, sexism, and socioeconomic class, but also realistically captures the headiness of first love and the crushing realization that adults are not all-powerful. (booklist)

Hubert, Jennifer. "What I Saw and How I Lied." Booklist 105, no. 5 (2008): 36-37. (Accessed September 17, 2010).

Awards:

National Book Award for Young People’s Literature 2008

School Library Journal Best Book

ALA Best Book for Young Adults

Connections:

Find information about the author at:

http://www.judyblundell.com/

Find information about hurricanes at:

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/

If you enjoyed What I Saw and How I Lied, you may also enjoy:

Stead, Rebecca. When You Reach Me. : Random House Children's Books, 2009. ISBN-13: 9780385737425

Standiford, Natalie. How to Say Goodbye in Robot. : Scholastic, 2009. ISBN-13: 9780545107082

Johnson, Angela. The First Part Last. : Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing, 2003. ISBN-13: 9780689849220

Hopkins, Cathy. Mates, Dates, and Cosmic Kisses. : Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing, 2002. ISBN-13: 9780689855450

Photo:

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/What-I-Saw-And-How-I-Lied/Judy-Blundell/e/9780439903462#TABS