If the Witness Lied

The four Fountain kids are orphans – Mom died of cancer, Dad was run over by his own jeep. Zach, the big brother, stays to take care of Tris, the baby, while their sisters, Smithy and Madison, bailed out due to grief. “Aunt” Cheryl decides to bring in a TV crew to film their reunion, and make some money. The public will want to watch—Tris is considered responsible for both parent’s deaths.

I liked this book. Cheryl is not what you think she is and I enjoyed watching Zach and his siblings try to figure everything out. This is a tense read as you wonder if things will really be alright.

After the Fountain kids figure out who really killed their father, the story's suspense takes off but comes to an abrupt, awkward stop when Nonny and Poppy show up to the rescue. I liked Jack, Madison and Smithy's tentative steps towards becoming a family united despite their grief, but the scheming Cheryl seemed too one-dimensional to be believable. Somewhat disappointing.

Cooney starts out strong with a disfunctional family of children trying to cope individually with the death of their parents -- their mother to cancer and their father a short time after from an accident caused by their young brother -- the the guardian who seeks to profit from the children's misfortune by putting them on t.v.

The teens are well-drawn and three-dimensional but most of the adults are cardboard cutouts.

On the whole a good read, but the ending is too pat and abrupt when it comes to solving the children's issues.

Reviewed by Sally Kruger aka "Readingjunky" for TeensReadToo.com

The four Fountain children are orphans. They first made headlines when their mother gave her life to save that of her unborn fourth child. The controversy centered on her battle with cancer and her refusal to accept chemotherapy at the risk of harming her unborn child. Overzealous news reporters portrayed baby Tris as his mother's killer.

The second time the family hit the headlines was when a tragic accident killed their father. Once again, little Tris was labeled as guilty of killing his remaining parent.

Now the media has been called in by their faithful guardian, Aunt Cheryl. She believes that facing their tragic situation in front of television cameras in a docudrama is show more the only way to help the children deal with the ghosts of their past.

In the year since their father's death, young Jack has remained in the family home, helping Aunt Cheryl with the care of almost three-year-old Tris. His sisters, Madison and Smithy, chose to head their separate ways, one to live with godparents and the other to attend boarding school. Now, both girls have realized the importance of family and are returning home to discover startling developments regarding their father's accident.

Could it be that the one witness of the horrible event may have lied? Could that witness actually be a murderer, and how can three teens and one toddler prove it?

Caroline B. Cooney is known for her mystery and suspense. IF THE WITNESS LIED is one of her best. The tragic family portrait she creates is sure to captivate readers from page one. It is difficult to imagine the pain and suffering these characters have been dealt, and then to throw in a potential evil so cleverly disguised, it becomes a story almost impossible to put down.

Once teens get the word on this one, it won't stay on bookshelves long. show less

A family is torn apart by tragedy but a wicked aunt tries to exploit the family by selling their story to TV. This book is part mystery and suspense, but partly about the roles each of the siblings takes on when baby Tris is held responsible for killing both his mother (she refuses chemo while she is pregnant with him, and then dies) and his father (Tris accidentally kills his father by releasing the parking brake when his father looks for something under the car). But who is really responsible? And how can this family ever heal again?

This book had something interesting to say about the role of reality TV in people's lives, especially from the perspective of the people who "star" in reality TV shows. Besides that, this was vintage Cooney, with suspense, heroic but imperfect characters, and a mystery to solve.

It's their father's first birthday since his death. The Fountain sisters realize, running from their brothers, from each other, from all the memories, is wrong. Madison and Smithy return home on the same day, right when Jack and Tris need their help. Jack and Tris live with their evil step-aunt, Cheryl. All the Fountain children listen to Cheryl's lies. The minister, old friends, and their grandparents believe what Cheryl tells them. She also loves the T.V., and she loves having the Fountain children on camera. But the Fountain children have been on too many times, after her mom chose to have her unborn baby Tris, over chemotherapy and when their father died in an accident because of their little brother. But was the death really an show more accident? Is Tris really blameless? show less