What I Saw and How I Lied

What I Saw and How I Lied

Juvenile/YA fiction
"Margie held her candy cigarette high in the air, even though
ladies didn't smoke on the street. We couldn't imagine being wicked
enough to smoke on the street, but it was something to shoot for,
something that smacked of high heels and saying 'damn' if you broke a
nail. In the meantime, we were careful not to step on the cracks in
the sidewalk. Step on a crack, break your mother's back. We'd been
saying it since we were nine years old, and it was just like Holy
Communion. We believed it absolutely, no matter how screwball it
sounded."
Evie, narrator of Judy Blundell's What I Saw and How I Lied, and
her best friend, Margie, are making the most of their last days of
summer vacation. Life is good. With WWII over, rationing has ended
and consumer goods are once again flooding the stores. Evie is
eagerly awaiting the day when she'll be able to "fill out a sweater."
Evie's life is about to take a turn for the unexpected. When
her stepfather, Joe, gets home from work he announces that they and
her mother, Bev, will be going to Florida the next day. The heck with
school! The family hadn't gotten around to taking a summer vacation.
Only the journey turns out to be a lot more than a vacation.
Evie is about to learn things about her stepfather she'd never
suspected. She's also going to enter into a relationship with an
older guy, Peter, who served in the war with Joe and seems to have a
thing for Bev.
When Peter dies under suspicious circumstances Evie is faced
with a dilemma. Can she tell the carefully crafted lies Joe and Bev
thought up to clear their name? Or will her loyalties lie with Peter?
I especially liked the book for two reasons. This poignant
coming of age story about a teen who abruptly has to grow up too fast
rings true. The narrative beautifully recreates an America recovering
from wartime fear and deprivation into a vision of hope for the future.
On a personal note, I'm returning to the memoir I've changed the
format for several times over the years. This time I think I have a
winner. I've written the introduction and will share it, as well as
my Artsapalooza audience. See if they would read a book that had that
on the first page. I'm going to try to complete the first draft by
September.
A great big shout out goes out to my BFFs--Lisa, Mazie, and Jodi--for
being awesome and believing in me.
jules hathaway


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