The match snapped, then sizzled, and I woke up fast. I heard my mother inhale as she took a long pull on a cigarette. Her lips stuck on the filter, so I knew she was still wearing lipstick. Shed been up all night.


So begins the story of Evie Spooner.

Evies stepfather, Joe, has returned home to his knockout wife after serving in World War II, and it appears that life is all polka dots and moonbeams. Then Joe takes a phone call that prompts him to scoop up his family from their Queens, New York, home to head south to Palm Beach, Florida, even though the town is desolate and hurricane season is approaching.

But what happens to Evie and her family in Florida is worse than the after effects of any hurricane. The reader won't be able to turn the pages fast enough while following the twists and turns in this noir mystery. The authenticity of the 1940s lingo and style will make girls long for pin curls and guys wish for the class of Humphrey Bogart.

Judy Blundell gifts us with living, breathing pictures of the loss of innocence, first love and the choice between truths and lies. This coming of age story will stick with the reader long after the mystery is solved.

If it is&

What I Saw and How I Lied is the 2008 recipient of the National Book Award for Young People's Literature.