What I Saw and How I Lied

National Book Award winner for a reason...beautiful writing, unique style and complex characters... as an adult I enjoyed immensely. The reader should be comfortable with the issues of a daughter and mother both loving the same man, a possible murder by the father, overt discrimination, lying in court and to parents and a sexual encounter by 14 yr old trying to go all the way. They are not written in a profane way, however, emotions are real and intense. I wouldn't want my bright middle schooler to be anywhere near this... but the senior in high school would be ready for the numerous themes that weave beautifully and cause one to think deeply.

It was recommended to me by my daughter, and I enjoyed it. Not too deep, but it kept me listening.

I had a little trouble getting into this at first, mainly because I hated the voices that the narrator of the audiobook used for all the men in the story, and how the voices she used for the women sort of kept changing. But I did eventually get sucked in, and I listened to most of it in one sitting. I wasn't all that fond of Evie for the first half of the book or so, but her character grows up a lot during the last third, and I really like how Blundell finished this. It's not what I was expecting it to be, but that's a good thing!

2008 National Book Award for Young People. Almost 16 Evie Spooner moves through August and September experiencing adult intrigue between her mother, her Veteran stepfather, a young GI Peter and a Jewish couple in Palm Springs. She begins the story wanting to wear lipstick and smoke cigarettes and ends the story the mature adult of the lot, having made difficult decisions that most of us thankfully have not had to face. This is an excellent read, and a great way for young adults to explore moral ambiguity.

What I Heard and How I Lied is a coming of age novel set during the time period of post-World War II. The novel is full of nostalgic descriptions of full skirts, pumps dyed to match dresses, late afternoon cocktails, pot roast with mashed potatoes, smoking as sexy habit, and Palm Beach as an exotic location. What I Heard And How I Lied also addresses in a very subtle manner issues of segregation, anti-Semitism, soldiers recovery from war trauma, war time opportunism, gender roles, sexual politics and dark greedy motives. This book took me completely by surprise. I am not sure what I was expecting, but it was definitely not a novel that begins slowly with a young and naïve teenager and progresses into a story of a young adult learning the truth about her parents. The subject matter is not unique, but Judy Blundell manages to present the story in a very fresh way.

There is something is so appealing about the coming of age story, the abandoning of naïveté, and first feelings of love; is there a better setting for these themes than post-World War II 194os? Ms. Blundell gives us a back a time in our history when smoking was sexy and lipstick was always apple red. The set-up is done so well, the reader is able to easily settle back into the idea that America used to be comfortable, predictable and simple. But this story is not about a simplistic free time in America. Once the reader relaxes back into the past, the thread of darkness and greed slowly winds itself around the book.

I could not put this book down (or actually, I could not turn off the audio book), while the setting and characters seemed familiar nothing about it was typical or rehashed. I highly recommend this book to readers who enjoy historical novels driven by characters and young adult novels.

No. This was okay; but not interesting enough to make me want to explore the author further.

The Chaperone.

Monotonous; but clear.

I think the ending is a nice place to leave the story. I wasn't too terribly interested in finding out whether Joe and Bev actually killed Peter. It almost didn't matter.

The story got more interesting towards the end. The beginning was kind of a drag.

Seguro que este libro le gustara a cualquier chica adolescente. La historia es muy original, aunque la resolución del problema es fácil de predecir. Lo mejor de la historia es la descripción del proceso evolutivo de la protagonista. La autora logra crear un personaje que se siente real. Pero lo que merece mi reconocimiento especial es la lectora del audiolibro. Su "performance" merece cinco estrellas. Me gustaría escuchar más de ella.

I liked how well the time (after WWII) was described.

At first I thought this book will be something silly, probably because it is narrated from the point of view of a teenage girl, but as I listened I got into it. An addictive book.

This was a good book once I got going. It has a slightly slow start and it wasn't until a few chapters in that I was invested in the storyline and looked forward to each opportunity I had to listen. Narrators voice was okay, but nothing terribly warm or engaging about her when she did the voices of other characters in the book. Overall enjoyable.