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Fifteen- year-old Evie has always felt over shadowed by her mother’s movie-star looks.
- Read an interview with Judy Blundell
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What I Saw and How I Lied

By Judy Blundell

Published by Scholastic

Fifteen- year-old Evie has always felt over shadowed by her mother’s movie-star looks but as American society begins to shake off the austerity of World War II, Evie is filled with new possibility and the desire to be treated like a child no longer.
Evie’s stepfather returns from the war and prospers; when he whisks Evie and her mother from their Brooklyn home to a hotel in Florida, their lives are changed forever.

Evie falls in love with a handsome ex army comrade of her stepfather and her eyes are opened to an adult world, where beneath the glamour, lies a web of anti-Semitism, adultery and secrets. Soon she is forced to make the most difficult decision of her life.

This beautifully written coming-of-age tale juxtaposes the pain of first love with the suspense laden atmosphere of film noir; it was the winner of the 2008 National Book Award in America.

Reading age: 11+
Interest level: 13+

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