What I Saw And How I Lied

Evie thinks she is just on a glamorous vacation with her mother and stepfather. Evie thinks that Peter is her first real love. Evie thinks her life is about to begin. Only too late does Evie learn the truth. The truth about her mother, her step father, Peter, and the world at large. And once she does learn the truth, she abandons it, in favor of what she thinks is necessary.

What I Saw and How I Lied is really a fascinating character study, a mystery of sorts and a coming of age novel. The characters are just so well done, from Evie to her mom to her dad to the Graysons to Peter. I wouldn't say they are all top-notch "likeable" people, but they are flawed. Imperfect. Joe has a temper - but he really does love his wife and daughter and show more wants to do right by them. (I also think he shows potential signs of PTSD, which made me think of all the men from WWII who came home with PTSD but never got it treated.) Bev has a wandering eye, hates being a housewife - but she LOVES her daughter and would do anything for her. And Evie comes across as naive, but when she needs to grow up, she does so.

This was a powerful book, one that definitely stuck with me, but also one I feel you have to be in the "right" mood to read. It's not happy or super uplifting, but it's important and impactful.

Judy Blundell has really showed me that she is a great crafter of words, that she is just as good outside Star Wars as in, that she is better at young adult than middle grade, and that more Young Adult authors need to write like she does - conflicted characters, great stories with touches of realism, and important messages without the feeling of being clubbed over the head. I would definitely pick up another of her books in the future. show less

When her stepfather takes Evie and her mother to Florida for a last-minute summer vacation, their lives are changed when Peter Coleridge enters the scene and sweeps Evie off her feet.

However, it becomes apparent that her stepfather does not like Peter, who coincidentally knew him from the War since they fought in the same company. Feeling rebellious and wanting to be more adult, Evie does everything in her power to spend more time with Peter.

I do not really want to go any further for fear of spoiling the book, but this recap is just the tip of the iceberg. What I Saw And How I Lied takes an unexpected turn in events that I find completely shocking. Who exactly is Peter, and why does Evie's stepfather dislike him? Is Peter's interest in show more Evie legitimate, or does he have some ulterior motive? I suppose the main crux of the book is the question: How much would you risk in the name of love and family? How far would you go?

Judy Blundell does a wonderful job at building up tension and suspense, and I had an uneasy feeling while reading that something just was not quite right. Something that I wanted to put my finger on, but could not tell what it was. I might have came close to guessing the truth, but there were so many curveballs that I could not be 100% certain. And when the ending came - holy Garden of Eden, I don't think I would have ever thought it could end that way! show less

In post WWII NY, Evie Spooner leaves on a spur-of-the-moment family vacation to Florida. At first, it's palm trees and shuffleboard and then handsome Peter Coleridge appears and Evie is determined to make him her first love. But Peter is not who he appears to be... neither are the Graysons (fellow hotelers who plan to join Evie's father, Joe, in a business venture)... in fact, Joe, and even her mother, Beverly, have secrets. The plot culminates in a mysterious death. Evie must sort out the truth and decide whom to believe in this compelling coming-of-age tale.

A superb look at a girl's first brush with romantic love, the real impact of anti-semitism (the Graysons are Jewish and are eventually expelled from the hotel which is 'exclusive') show more and post-war America. Ultimately, it is the story of the end of Evie's innocence as she discovers that adults lie -- in big and small ways -- all of the time and she herself must join the deception. show less

In 1947, fifteen-year-old Evie Spooner travels from New York to Florida with her mother Beverly and stepfather Joe, believing this is a recreational trip. Not long after they arrive, Peter Coleridge shows up: young, handsome, charming, attentive to Evie. He served with Joe in the war, and they claim to be great buddies, but his arrival brings a creeping tension that clues in first the reader, then Evie.

This beautifully crafted book drops the reader into another time and place with original description, accurate dialogue (some of the slang is almost funny), and genuine (not forced) social issues. The prose evokes a dark loveliness that adds to the tension of events. Evie's first-person, retrospective narration provides suspense by show more slipping in just enough information for the reader to figure things out before she did. The moment that she finally understands all is truly sad.

Certain elements of the resolution left me disappointed, especially after the brilliant set-up and climax. And 23-year-old Peter's flirting-and-more with teenaged Evie has a "creepy" edge to it, even once his motives are revealed. Yes, this nearly wrecked my enjoyment of the book. However, what redeems this element (for me) is Evie's response. She has admired and relied on adults that are neither admirable nor reliable. They have let her down, even used her innocence to help achieve their goals. But in the end, she sees this, and she determines not to be like them.

Overall, despite dissatisfying resolution to some of the character threads, Evie's journey from New York to Florida and back again, from child to young woman, is worth the read. show less

This YA novel won the National Book Award in 2008. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and found it nicely touches on many genres and themes (World War II, antisemitism, coming-of-age, first love, family drama, whodunit) without overdoing any of them, and while telling a very compelling, morally complex story. 15 year-old Evie's life in Queens is returning to normal when her stepfather Joe returns home from the war. Joe behaves strangely, though, and after receiving some unwelcome phone calls, spontaneously surprises Evie and her beautiful mother Beverly with a trip to Florida. On vacation, handsome young Peter Coleridge, who served in the war under Joe shows up. Peter and another vacationing couple, the Graysons, take Evie under their wings in show more their own way, helping her to see herself as a beautiful young woman, rather than an awkward, gangly girl in the shadow of her stunning mother. As Evie takes her first tentative steps toward adulthood (and falls head-over-heels for Peter), her parents resist mightily, wanting to keep her young and innocent, and Joe wanting to avoid Peter at all costs. Evie gradually comes to realize that all of the adults around her in Florida, including her parents, the Graysons, and Peter are part of a complex web of secrets and lies that builds and finally culminates in tragedy. In the aftermath, Evie must also choose between loyalty and love, and between truth and lies. This was a page-turner, and very well done.

Curriculum: this book would be ideal to discuss an essential question a colleague of mine said her school used throughout a school year: when is it wrong to do right, and when is it right to do wrong? These questions are at the heart of the dilemma faced by the protagonist, who must make difficult and morally ambiguous choices.

Blundell, J. (2008). What I saw and how I lied. New York: Scholastic, Inc. show less

A well written book for the teen crowd. Set in post WW2 America it has a historical feel, but the historical components are more of a backstory. Evie is a teen who lives in New York with her knockout mother, better than average stepfather and somewhat annoying step-grandmother. Her stepfather has recently returned from the war and is running a successful business when he decides the family needs a vacation in West Palm Beach, Florida. Oddly the resort area is largely deserted in Fall so things seem a little odd. But once Evie meets Pete who has just returned from the war, and has taken an interest in her, she suddenly isn't missing her New York life. The only negatives for her are her stepfather who strongly dislikes Pete for no show more apparent reason and her mother who also seems to be catching Pete's eye.

Tension mounts as circumstances lead to a death and a trial. Evie is caught in a web of lies and must choose whether she should go along with the lie or lose her family. Evie is a teen finding herself, falling in love for the first time, and figuring out the life she wants for herself. A colorful cast of characters woven through a catching plot make this a satisfying read. Unfortunately, the 1940s time period might make the book less appealing to teens than other more contemporary coming of age stories. show less

Read more at The Flyleaf Review

Opening Line

"The match snapped, then sizzled, and I woke up fast."

My Take On It

"Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive."

Sir Walter Scott wrote that and never has a quote fit a story more. If What I Saw and How I Lied was adapted for the big screen, it would be a classic study in Film Noir. All the cinematic elements are represented: shady characters, lies and deceit, betrayal and murder. But this book is two fold in that it is also a classic YA coming of age story, albeit a twisted and warped version on the theme. What I Saw and How I Lied is not a happy book filled with light subject matter. It's dark and gritty and has an underlying tension and sense of foreboding that you show more pick up on within the first few pages of reading.

At it's center is protagonist Evie Spooner, who is fifteen, going on eleven. Never will you see a more naive young girl at the start of the book. She comes from a broken home and has lived in the shadow of her young, beautiful mother all her life. Like any young girl her age, she is anxious to grow up and experience all those milestone moments she has daydreamed about: her first kiss; her first dance; her first love. She is on the threshold of becoming a woman. In the beginning I admit I was somewhat put off by her gullible nature. As events in the story began to unfold, things were so obvious that it was almost annoying that she couldn't see what was so clear to me. But as I continued to read, I had to remind myself that it was partly Evie's circumstances growing up, as well as the time period she was living in, that enabled her blindness.

Evie's mother, pregnant at seventeen and deserted shortly thereafter, has since remarried and kept her daughter sheltered, discouraging her from growing up in such a hurry. It would seem she does not wish her daughter to make the same mistakes she has. When Evie's stepfather returns home from WWII, strange phone calls from an old army acquaintance encourage him to travel with the Brooklyn based family south for a late summer vacation to Palm Beach, Florida. There, the Spooner's meet a cast of characters including another vacationing New York couple, the Graysons, and a former army-GI named Peter Coleridge. With Peter, all Evie's girlish daydreams are soon realized.

"Every so often, our ankles brushed against each other, our toes. It felt like the most real thing that had ever happened to me. I was part of the hot, dark night. The night was all breath and air. I was all skin."

Evie falls hard for the twenty-three year old, and as I was once a teenage girl myself, I recognized and remembered what it felt like to be so enthralled with a boy. As a thirty something mom, I have to say it's both exciting and a little frightening to be transported back into the mind and heart of a fifteen year old girl.

"He was underneath every word and every thought now. All I could think about was when I would see him again. It was the first time I knew what that kind of hunger, terrible and magnificent, was like."

But all is not as it seems, and it soon becomes clear that Evie is smack dab in the middle of a huge web of deceit. To talk further about the plot would give away too much, and that would be a great disservice to this book. You need to read it yourself and let it draw you into it's twists and turns and shadowy half truths. There are some things you will see coming from a mile off, BUT witnessing Evie's discovery of them and how she chooses to react to them is where the true magic of this book lies. Let's just say that by story's end, Evie is no longer the picture of innocence. It turns out she is a quick study, she learns the game and how to play it FAST.

I want to talk a little about how wonderfully well written this book is. Judy Blundell has penned a lyrical, atmospheric, haunting historical fiction unlike any I have read. There is a reason that this books sports a National Book Award Winner medal on it's gorgeous cover, folks. With her words, she transported me back to that golden age that followed WWII, when the country was struggling to get back on it's feet yet all the while feeling optimistic about life and living, more so than it had in nearly two decades. It is all cocktails and evening gowns, cigarettes and pin curls, dancing to the radio and Sunday drives. And the beautiful writing is to die for. Like this excerpt where Evie describes Florida:

"I breathed in the night air. Why did the air here smell like a pocketful of promises? It was flowers and the ocean and the sky all mixed together."

Or this one which again illustrates her feelings about Peter:

"I understood the word 'swoon.' It felt that way, like 'sweep' and ' moon' and 'woo', all those words smashed together in one word that stood for that feeling, right then."

If you are like me, this kind of writing is like a little slice of heaven. Judy Blundell, who also goes by the pen name Jude Watson, is one hell of a writer. And hey, guess what Stars Wars fans? You read that right. Judy Blundell is the same Jude Watson who has written the Star Wars Jedi Apprentice series as well as journals for Queen Amidala and Darth Maul. How's that for versatile?

I wholeheartedly recommend What I Saw and How I Lied to anyone who loves a darker more twisted version of the coming of age theme in YA literature or anyone who is a fan of atmospheric historical fiction and beautiful writing that reads like prose.

4/5 Stars

Cover Thoughts:

OH. MY. GOD. This cover is so incredibly beautiful and perfect in every way. From the pin curl waves to the bold red lipstick, it absolutely epitomizes the character of Evie and sets the tone for the book. Definitely one of my favorite covers ever. show less