What I Saw and How I Lied by Judy Blundell

What I Saw and How I Lied by Judy Blundell, Scholastic Press, New York, 2008, ISBN 978-0-439-90348-6

Plot Summary
Evie's step-father, Joe, has returned home to Queens after serving in WWII, and, with his return, normal life begins to resume for Evie and her mother. In the time that Joe was gone, Evie and her mother had to live with Joe’s grouchy mother who finds endless fault with her son’s glamorous wife. But somebody else also shows up--good-looking Peter Coleridge who served with Joe's company in the war. Suddenly Evie's step-father becomes edgy itching to leave Queens on a long vacation to Florida. Initially, when they arrive, Florida seems to be a garden of Eden with sunshine, glamorous new friends, space from the sour mother-in-law, and promises of wealth for Joe. Snakes in the garden emerge as the hurricane season approaches: Peter follows them to Florida, Evie begins to fall for him in spite of Joe’s warnings, and the glamorous new friends are not always made welcome in the sunshine state.

Critical Evaluation
The joys of reading this novel include the 1940s diction and the ease with which one enters into the post-WWII period. From the very first page, the reader is transported into another time period in which a girl worthy of pity is called, "Pussycat", a good looking babe is called a "Dish" and teen girls earnestly read books the likes of Every Young Girl's Guide to Popularity. Blundell sneaks in references to historical events such as Florida's 1947 hurricane and WWII looting, and she does it so smoothly that the reader blinks, surprised that she has learned something new. The author also keeps the reader on her toes by making the narrator a very likeable, but still unreliable narrator--Evie is charming, naive and impressionable, and the reader is never entirely sure whether to trust her version of the story. The unease about what has actually transpired keeps the pages turning in this rich, multi-layered work of historical fiction.

Reader’s Annotation

Love suspense, mystery, and romance? Want to be swept away to a different time and place where women wear tightly fitting dresses and swoon over Sinatra songs and men wear suits and drink scotch?

Information about the Author

According to the author’s website, “Judy Blundell has written books for middle grade, young adult, and adult readers under several pseudonyms. Her novel, Premonitions, was an ALA Reluctant Readers Best Picks and was chosen by the New York Public Library as a 2004 Best Books for the Teen Age. Among her forthcoming projects is Book #4 in the New York Times bestselling series, The 39 Clues. Judy Blundell lives in Katonah, New York, with her husband and daughter.

2008 National Book Award winner for her YA novel What I Saw and How I Lied, Judy Blundell is well known to Star Wars fans by her pseudonym, Jude Watson.

What could be more fun than writing in your journal? Well, how about writing Queen Amidala's journal for her? Jude Watson is currently the most celebrated author in the prequel-era of the Star Wars phenomenon. She's no stranger to science fiction — her own series, entitled Danger.com, is a mystery series based on the Internet. Watson became involved with LucasBooks when an editor she had worked with in the past selected her to write Captive to Evil by Princess Leia Organa (Star Wars Journal). Since then Watson has penned the Star Wars Jedi Apprentice series as well as journals for Queen Amidala and Darth Maul.”

Genre

Historical Fiction/ Mystery

Curriculum Ties

History--WWII & its aftermath

Booktalking Ideas

Read a description of the romance and glamorous life that seventeen year old Evie dreams of and catches glimpses of in Florida. Note that it all goes terribly wrong because of a very big lie.  

Reading Level/ Interest Age

14+

Challenge Issues

N/A

Why Included?

This novel is a National Book Award winner that takes place in the years after WWII, a time period that fascinates many teenagers. I thought that it would have broad appeal and wanted to read it myself!