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What I Saw and How I Lied

Judy Blundell

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What Members Thought

Sep 16, 2010 karen rated it liked it

Shelves: why-yes-i-ya, and-so-this-is-grad-school

stay tuned, there will be mary lou retton if you are patient....

so first of all, i love this title. i was supposed to read three books from the list for this week's teen class; i ended up reading five because i am such a super-nerd, but i think it is good for me, because these aren't the types of teen fiction i would ordinarily pick up - if i read teen fiction it is pretty much only survival-in-a-dystopian-setting kind of stuff, certainly not "first love in a complicated, postwar america".

i am ...more

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Dec 23, 2008 Emma rated it it was amazing

Every good book should start with a good story. In the case of What I Saw and How I Lied (2008) by Judy Blundell, it actually starts with two. This is Blundell's debut novel although, under pen names, she has written many other titles. In a School Library Journal article, Blundell said that this was the first book that felt like it was hers. How wonderful then to also have it win the National Book Award for Young People's Literature and receive accolades from all over. (Plus, the book was edited Every good book should start with a good story. In the case of What I Saw and How I Lied (2008) by Judy Blundell, it actually starts with two. This is Blundell's debut novel although, under pen names, she has written many other titles. In a School Library Journal article, Blundell said that this was the first book that felt like it was hers. How wonderful then to also have it win the National Book Award for Young People's Literature and receive accolades from all over. (Plus, the book was edited by David Levithan, himself a YA author/editor extraordinaire).

But that's just the backstory. What I Saw and How I Lied also has an excellent actual story.

The year is 1947, the place Queens, New York. For fifteen-year-old Evie Spooner, it feels like life has gone back to normal. Her step-father Joe is back from the War, Evie's blonde bombshell mother Barb is back to playing housewife, and Joe's mother is annoying everyone. All everyday, mundane things.

That changes when Joe announces suddenly that the family is going to take a trip to Florida. When Peter Coleridge, a dashing ex-GI who served with Joe, finds the family, Evie knows that things will never be mundane again. The close Evie gets to Peter, the more secrets she finds--not only Peter's but also secrets surrounding her own family.

As the events of the novel come to a head Evie has to face these secrets and the lies told to keep them. The more she learns about the truth, and the lies, the more Evie wonders if truth has anything to do with loyalty.

The first thing that drew me to this book was the cover with its heroine steeped in shadows. It is the epitome of film noir (hardboiled fiction when in written form), a fitting choice since this novel is nothing if not noir.

The writing here is taut, fraught with tension and even a bit of suspense right from the beginning. Every word here matters. If ever I met someone who suggested that writing was not an art, this book would be part of my argument to the contrary.

Sometimes novels told in retrospect, which is basically the case here, can be boring because the narrator keeps complaining about the things they didn't know. Evie is made of stronger stuff. Instead of bemoaning the things she missed the first time around, she simply lays out the events as they happened. This makes Evie's perspective on things look a bit naive. At the same time it also gives the book a certain honesty because, like Evie, we learn that everything is not as it seems as the story progresses.

Blundell also uses a lot of foreshadowing in her novel. In the wrong hands foreshadow is another writing technique that can go horribly wrong. In What I Saw and How I Lied it only adds to the suspense and complexity of the writing--writing that is both poignant and beautiful (while evoking the atmosphere and mood of 1947 in both New York and Florida). ...more

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Oct 15, 2008 CLM rated it really liked it

Shelves: ya, 20th-century

Well written and compelling but sad. However, I do feel moderately cool that I have it in my living room as it wins a National Book Award.

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Apr 21, 2009 Laura rated it really liked it

Shelves: mt-bookpile-pre-2010, old-reads

I can understand why this won the National Book Award - it's one of those historical fiction novels that has a few messages, but none so heavy that they give you a headache. What messages? That growing up can be painful, that racism/antisemitism can be insidious, and that heroes can have feet of clay.

Evie's journey from "Sister Mary Evelyn" to an almost-woman feels real: her falling in love with Peter, her kissing (and regretting) Wally, her desire to look like her mother, and her realization th ...more

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May 06, 2009 Sharon rated it it was ok

Shelves: ya

I'm over 1/3 of the way through this book and I have no idea what it's about. Percentage-wise, I should at least have some hint as to what she saw, even if we hadn't yet gotten to how she lied. So far there's a young love thing, and her stepfather is getting into a business deal. I can see where something might come of it, but come on, it's been 100 pages. I'm just done.

Edited: okay, I'm trying again. Apparently I was just 10 pages before things got going. The first 125 pages should really be ab ...more

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Nov 02, 2009 Kate rated it really liked it

Shelves: youngadult, fiction

I really liked this y/a noir: it stayed true to the era, and the growth of the young narrator was believable and fascinating. It is entrancing to watch her take power in a situation where she has lost all that mattered to her through various deceptions and secrets.

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Jan 31, 2009 Angie rated it liked it

Shelves: teen

I really liked this book. A coming of age historical fiction with a bit of drama and a secret. But....Im not sure it is what I would have expected from a National Book Award winner....just my opinion.

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Sep 09, 2012 Hannah added it

Shelves: ya, historical-fiction, for-class-masters

Definitely on the younger end of YA and with some holes and weird didactic bits about sex and lying, but overall not bad. I actually liked the plot and themes and just felt that occasionally the storytelling was weak and needed a workshop or two. One thing that did seem very, very well done was the research. Great detail, great voice that seemed completely accurate.

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