Ik lieg maar één keer door Judy Blundell

(This is the Dutch edition of What I saw and how I lied)
World War II has ended. The fifteen year old Evie Spooner and her family are living in Queens New York. A few weeks before school starts, her father Joe (who just returned from serving in the war) takes Evie and her mom on a vacation to Palm Beach, Florida.

When they arrive there, most hotels are closed up because of the off-season. They land in a little hotel called Le Mirage, where they soon meet the other hotel guests, Mr and Mrs Grayson, and the two families who both have in common that they are from New York, become friends.
Evie also meets Peter, a handsome guy, and it seems he has only eyes for her, and they secretly start dating.
As it turns out Peter and Evie’s father has known each other in the war. Peter soon becomes a part of Evie’s life, and her family’s life. He joins them for dinner on a regular basis and begins to take Evie and her mother for daily drives.

As Evie’s relationship is progressing with Peter so is her father’s relationship with Mr. Grayson. Joe and Mr. Grayson decide to go into business together by buying the hotel where they are staying. However, the current hotel manager finds out that the Graysons are Jewish and asks them to leave.
Soon Evie and Peter are caught kissing by Evie's mom. She gets furious and Evie is not allowed to see Peter again for her own good will. But is this the real reason Beverly gets angry?

Then Joe, Beverly and Peter go out for a boat ride, ignoring the hurricane announcements. And this is the start of the unfolding of some tragic and serious looking events which involve all of them..

To be honest, I had higher expectations of this book. Especially after I had read raving reviews of it. But somehow it wasn't working, and I ended it with a few questions and confusings, like some unimportant one: One moment the house of the family was in Brooklyn, I once thought New Yersey, and I ended up in..Queens?? Is this just my confusement or isn't something like just one place where the Spooners are living? And somehow the title didn't work for me, I didn't get the point of what it had to do with the story.
I thought this was a very serious novel, which you have to be in the mood for the get through it.
Overall okay, not my most favourite ya novel in the world, certainly not bad.

Fake Boyfriend by Kate Brian

Pub. Date: February 2009
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
Paperback, 288pp
Source: Library
Age Range: Young Adult
ISBN-13: 9781416913689
ISBN: 1416913688
It's over between Isabelle and her boyfriend Shawn(aka Sluttig), and now Isabelle is a mess.
Her best friends Vivi and Lane don't accept this, they want their best friend to be a happy, with a boyfriend who really cares about her and who she can take to the prom which is in a few weeks (but which Isabelle prepared and looked forward to since ninth grade) Lane and Vivi take action, and they make up a boyfriend for her. Vivi's brother Marshall is hired to be a digital instant message boyfriend brandon , and at an audition for a musical her mom is staging, they snatch Jonathan to be Brandon in real life. Problem solved! Or not? Because when Vivi falls for Jonathan, and Shawn tries to wedge his way back into Izzy's prom picture, the whole plan starts to go south faster than you can say "fake boyfriend.
This book was okay, ou could almost tell what was going to happen. A cute read for younger girls, nothing new and original, just a nice in between book. Although funny and girly!

It ain't all for nothin' by Walter Deam Myers

Pub. Date: March 2003
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Paperback, 240pp
Age Range: Young Adult
After his grandmother Carrie has to go to an elderly home, young Harlem boy Tippy is forced to live with his criminal and lacking of responsibility father Lonnie.Lonnie's got his own thing going on, and he doesn't have much room in his life for a son he barely knows. Lonnie tries to influence Tippy to be like him and do bad things to. But Tippy keeps his head up high and tries to be a good boy, even if that means that he gets beat up by Lonnie. It gets harder and harder for Tippy to live with Lonnie and his criminal friends, and then someone shows up who wants to help Tippy..
I thought this book was very interesting and entertaining. I truly didn't know what to expect of this book, after I had read 145th Street by the same author wich I didn't like that much. But this book was just great and I really expect to read more books by Walter Dean Myers.

The Dresskeeper by Mary Naylus

Paperback: 238 pages
Age range: Young Adult/Teen
Publisher: Prospera Publishing (30 Nov 2009)
ISBN-13: 978-0956122285

There are many people who just dream to step in a time machine and step in a time period of their choice. But not Picky, who has to watch her demented Gran. Her parents are divorced, her mum is a very busy nurse and she has a little brother, Ollie. Its Ollie's biggest daily task to draw on everything like on Picky's forehead with a permanent marker, or on her mum's bedspread with Nutella..hilarious! One day when Picky is Gran-sitting, she walks into the attic because of boredom, and then she finds a big case with Victorian looking dresses. When she tries on one of the dresses, she suddenly hears a man's voice, and he is calling her Amelia and tries to kill her, and she discovers then that she is in the same house in London, but back in the 1800's, and in the life of a girl named Amelia, who is the daughter of very wealthy parents. When she steps out of the dress, she is back in her own life as Picky. She steps secretly back in the dresses many times, to find out what happened to Amelia. She discovers too that being from the upper class during that period has its dark sides,(like being forced to marry and earl when you are thirteen..) and that there where many people living in poverty. Can she change the fate of Amelia and rescue her from being murdered, and who was trying to murder Amelia and why?
The Dresskeeper by Mary Naylus is by far one of the most surprising books of 2009. Picky is a humorous, smart, witty main character, a really cool teen you immediately can relate to and want to be friends with (even though her classmates think else). Modern meets historical in this thrilling debut novel. I can only say: read it!

Cuba 15 by Nancy Osa

Violet Paz is a Cuban-American girl (and half Polish too), living in Chicago. Her fifteenth birthday is coming up soon and her Abuela (grandmother) is making Victoria enthusiastic to celebrate this the traditional Cuban way: with a Quinceañero party, because fifteen is the age when a girl reaches womanhood officially. Violet knows little about her Cuban heritage, because her parents never talk about it, because they feel truly American.But while organising the Quince, Violet learns more about the Cuban culture, the embargo and Fidel Castro. But when she learns more and even attends a Cuban peace rally, she gets on her fathers bad side.
Besides the Quinceañera, Violet is in a speech competition at school wich gives her a lot of stress in combination with the party planning..
The story of Cuba 15 wasn't as exciting and fun as I hoped for. The style of writing was really slow paced and the main character got stuck too long in certain situations and doesn't have a very big development to keep the story rolling on. (you can easily skip a few pages here and there).But besides that fun to read if you love books between cultures.

Perfect Shot by Debbie Rigaud

Pub. Date: December 2009
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Genre:Young Adult
Series: Romantic Comedies Series
ISBN-13: 9781416978350

London Abrams is a girl who is talented at the volleyball field, and works on saturdays in an art supplies store to save money for summer camp. When a cute guy named Brent comes along her cash register, she is curious who he is. Then she suddenly sees him signing in contestants for a modeling contests at a local Teawood (New Jersey) fashion store. and to make contact with him she decides to be a contestant too. Later that week London is called back by the contest people, and she is in!
But is standing across fourteen other (and sometimes very competitive mean) contestants what she wants? Luckily Brent has eyes for London too. The mean Kelly (model since she was little with a snobby attitude) tries to get London insecure by spreading rumors about her and by being very mean to London. But London is a sporty volleyball girl who doesn't give up her spot easily and is competitive in a sporty and fun way!
Perfect Shot is a brand new addition to the SimonSays Romantic Comedies. And a perfect romantic comedy it is! Filled with sport, fashion,fun and an amazing cool main character in the person of London. Just a book you love from the first to the last page!

Nicola and the Viscount by Meg Cabot

Nicola Sparks is a sixteen year old orphan in 1810 She is raised by her sweet grandparents at the family's English land house Beckwell Abbey. It is the start of the London society season and young Nicola is ready to make her entrance and to marry viscount Lord Sebastian Bartholomew. But then she discovers the shady side of this proposal when her best friends brother Nathaniel tells her about Lord Sebastian's plan to sell Beckwell Abbey so his dad who is in the coal business can start with the railroad that will lead criscross to the land of Beckwell Abbey. Is it too late too cancel the wedding to save her family's land and house? And why is Nathaniel so sweet to her?
If you love English historical romance ala Pride and Prejudice, you will certainly love Nicola and the Viscount. I personally think this book is way more understandable than Pride and Prejudice and certainly more fun. This was the second historical romance novel by Meg Cabot that I have read and I think it was one of her best books.

Sweethearts by Sara Zarr

What happened to Jennifer's best friend Cameron? Cameron suddenly dissapeared when they where both in primary school. Suddenly he didn't came to school anymore, and some said that he had died, even Jennifer's mom said that he suddenly died. Jennifer goes to high school, and changes her name to Jenna, to make a new start.
But then, one day, there is a new guy in her class. And that guy is Cameron. He is back in to her life and Jenna wants to know what happened in the past, why he had left her, his best friend without a single note. Bit by bit she learns more about Cameron, his family, and the reason why he was suddenly gone.
Cameron stays a bit of a mysterious guy in Sweethearts, and Jenna finds it hard to accept everything. Sweethearts is a real serious and somewhat tragic story. If you want a book that cheers you up, Sweethearts isn't your book of choice. The story is about the bond of friendship and the marks that certain people that come into your life make. The style of writing makes it a read at a very slow pace.But at the end the author leaves the reader with many questions that stay unanswered in Sweethearts, somehow this book misses the point.

Sold by Patricia McCormick

The thirteen year old Lakshmi lives with her mom and stepfather in a small rural village on a hill in Nepal. The family is poor, and after a very bad monsoon her father tells her mother that they have to send Lakshmi away to the city so she can work as a maid for rich people and send money back to home.
They go the the little village shop where she is sold to a woman who brings her to the city. After a few days long journey by foot and bus, she is given to 'Uncle Husband' who brings her into India.There she is brought to the Happines House. Lakshmi has no clue what she has to do for work. She has to take her village clothes of and change into a bright colored long dress and nice shoes. And she gets make up on. She is brought to a little room where she is told she can't escape and she has 20.000 rupee in debt, and she has to work to pay her debt of.
The next night she discovers more about Happines House and the work she has to do. And she is horrified after the next night when she finds out that Happines House is a brothel.Can she escape from out of this horrible place?
The story of Lakshmi is told in short chapters wich last long as one page. In simple words we discover more about her life with simple hints and details. The way the author tells the story is very different and original and it keeps you reading to find out how it ends. It is so horrible that the story of Lakshmi is realistic and that young girls of this age are sold and forced into prostitution by their parents, who think their daughter is working as a maid in the city.Hopefully for all the girls in the world who are living the same kind of life as Lakshmi, they get the same rescue as her at the end of the book. Altough it was a very sad story I enjoyed to read it because I think it's important that there are books about this topic.The author interviewed young women like Lakshmi for this book Recommended read!

Red Glass by Laura Resau

One night Sopie's stepdad gets a call. A little 6 year old boy had been found in the desert, after his family tried to cross the Mexican-American border. The crossing did not went well and the family died because dehydration and the harsh desert. They visit the little boy (whose name is Pablo) in the hospital and they take him into the family. The family exists of Sophie, her mom, Juan (her mom's new husband) and Dika, Sophie's aunt who survived the war in Bosnia.
Dika gets a new boyfriend, Mr. Lorenzo, and Sophie becomes friends with his son Angel.
They tried to locate family of Pablo, and they find them. They make a plan to go to Mexico to Pablo's village. Angels has a mysterious box he carries with him, and it keeps things of his passed away mother. Angel and Mr. Lorenzo are from Guatemala, and when Sophie and Dika stays in Mexico with Pablo's family, Angel and Mr. Lorenzo travel to Guatemala to find some things out about his mother. Sophie finds a new way of living and learns more about herself, and she has to make tough choices when she has to travel to Guatemala alone when she finds out Angel has been attacked and his in the hospital..but will she arrive there savely?
Red Glass is an outstanding and amazing Ya novel 'between cultures'' by Laura Resau.
There aren't many books that get to you so much as a reader, because the characters and situations are so amazing realistic. It is also a story of a girl who is plagued by anxiety, and learns more about herself and becomes a though girl during her time in Mexico and Guatemala, where she gets unexpected help from strangers who are the most welcoming people she meets. The author really knows what she writes about as she has lived in Mexico, and the reader learns in a fun way more about the culture.Red Glass takes you on a adventurous travel with the characters crisscross through Central America and it is a book you want to read over again many times!

Secret Society by Tom Dolby

Four New York teens, Nick, Patch, Lauren and Phoebe are students at Cartridge school, a school for the more privileged kids. They al receive mysterious text messages to appear at a night at a certain location on Gansevoort Street. That evening they all are initiated into 'The Society'' where they all get an ankh tattooed on the back of their necks. All four students have goals they want to reach, one wants to be a filmmaker, one wants to become an intern at a fashion designer..and it seems they get all that they want, because of the network of the secret society. But they didn't asked to be initiated and he backside of the society becomes clear and it seems the four teens are watched in everything they do. When two guys who are friends with the four suddenly dissapear and a body is found in Central Parkthe teens want to know more about the society wich they never can get out of, but will they discover the secret?
The Secret Society is a book that fans of the Gossip Girl series and fans of Another faust certainly will love. You can ask yourself if Secret Society is a new original piece of YA. I personally think it isn't. The story leaps to much from character to character and misses a point that really gets you as a reader. An enjoyable read for if you want more of the Gossip Girl stuff en mysterious societys and whealthy teens, not if you want something new.

Girl Overboard by Justina Chen Headley

Syrah Cheng is the daughter of the billionaires Ethan and Betty Cheng. She used to be a snowboarder, but after an accident that destroyed her knee, she isn't allowed to snowboard anymore by her parents. And if that isn't enough, her boyfriend Jared dumped her the same time because he discovered that Syrah wasn't the golden ticket to paradise he thought she was (because of her whealthy parents). Her haflbrothers and halfsister ignore her mostly, because they think Syrah is not a 'real' Cheng family member. Her strict mother has clear rules about almost everything, especially on appearrance. And Bao-Mu, Syrah's nanny is leaving the family suddenly. Syrah is tired of her keeping up appearances family, and misses Bao-Mu, the only one who really cared about her, it seems. But then she gets the chance to help the family of her friend, who has a seriously ill little sister who needs a bone transplant. Syrah's dream to realise a big snowboarding event to raise money, attention and awareness for this cause is born!
And then she discovers the past of her mother, and with that she meets family she has never met, and that there are people who really care about her, no matter how whealthy her family might be, just because she is Syrah.
I have heard many great things about the books of Justina Chen, and I really wanted to read Girl Overboard for a long while. And it was worth waiting. This book was just amazingly good.
The story has so many layers, it is sporty, cultural, funny, serious, and it has positivism written between the lines.
Isn't this all a good YA novel has to have in it? Girl Overboard has it all. Don't look further for a ya book, just pick Girl Overboard. And stay tuned for my reviews of the other two books by Justina Chen, wich I am sure I am going to read soon..

Mediator book 5: Grave Doubts byMeg Cabot

Susanna Simon, a girl who is a mediator and helps the undead to 'move on' gets a new ghostly case in this fifth book of the series. The brother of the little boy she babysitted during the summer at the Carmel Beach Club and who almost exorcised her and Jesse, is at the same school as her now. And he seems to follow Suze everywhere, and it even leads to a not unpleasant kiss. But what does Suze feel for Jesse, the ghost in her bedroom who is her true best friend?And her brother has a friend who is haunted by his drowned brother. Rivalry between Paul and Jesse and the drowned guy and his brother are leading to some very spooky and serious threads for Suze and she has to use all her mediator powers to solve them..
This fifth book in the Mediator series by Meg Cabot is a nice and easy in-between book. A fast read (I finished it in a day) that will lead to the final book in the series, book 6. I must honestly say that I think it is not the strongest book in the serie. Some parts really left me unclear in some details. But somehow it was entertaining.

Leading Ladies by Marlee Matlin and Doug Cooney

Megan, a girl in fourth grade, has practiced in the summer for the part of Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, a musical that her class is going to stage. Megan is deaf, so she will do her audition in sign language, with help from her family's newly adopted dog Solo, who gets the part of Toto.Megan's best friend from summer camp, Lizzie, has moved to the same town and school as Megan. At the day of the audition for The Wizard, Megan is shocked to see that Lizzie performs the same songs as she has prepared for, now she will look like a total copycat and will not get the part of Dorothy! What to do? Audition stress, a new dog in the house, ( who gets missing just before the performance) friends and cheese french fries. It al comes together in this very cute and entertaining middle grade novel by Academy and Golden Globe Award winner Marlee Matlin (for her role in Children of a lesser God)and co author Doug Cooney. Real fun for young readers with Leading Ladies!

The Shiksa Syndrome by Laurie Graff

Aimee Albert, a Jewish girl who lives in New York City, is wondering if Shiksa's (non-jewish girls) have more fun and more chance to find the right guy. With her friend Krista she starts dating and pretending that her friend is Jewish (wich she is not) and that Aimee is a shiksa. Ofcourse the pretending doesn't last long because Aimee makes some mistakes..wil she ever find Mister Right? Or didn't she have to pretend that she was a shiksa at all?
The whole book is set up around Aimee pretending to be a shiksa. But is this enough to fill a book with and entertain the reader till the last page? It isn't.Most of the parts are repeats of previous scenes and I am sure the book would be more fun if it had a better plot and more funny moments wich would be perfect for this book.

Threads by Sophia Bennett

Nonie, Edie and Jenny are three best friends who are living in London. Nonie's talent is fashion, Edie's is a girl who wants to save the world, and Jenny is a teen actress who is starring in the Hollywood movie Kid Zone.
Then Nonie and Edie meet Crow. A twelve year old girl who is a refugee from Uganda and who dresses funny with fairy wings. Crow designs the most beautiful flower petal dresses and she is trained by her neighbour, an elderly lady who was once a seamstress for Dior. Crow's designs are sold out every time at the Portobello Road market in Notting Hill, where the clients are mostly top models. Crow starts to design more than flower petal dresses because she gets more and more design requests.
Edie and Nonie are getting to know more about the past of Crow in Uganda and they want to help her, but most of all they want her to get her own fashion show..
Recently Threads caught my eye in a bookstore, the cover is just gorgeous, and the book is even more than that. It is a fun book in every way, and every girl who loves fashion will fall in love with Threads. Crow is just an amazing girl to read about and I am really curious how her designs would look in real life. Its a modern fairy tale about fashion and its just real fun to read. I am already looking out for the sequel..

The secret life of Sparrow Delaney by Suzanne Harper

Sparrow Delaney is the seventh daugter of a seventh daughter, and there are seven girls in her family (six sisters) and her mom and Grandma Bee. They live in a bit of a messy household, and they are all very spiritual. Sparrow can see ghosts since she was five. At the first schoolday of tenth grade, she meets her new classmate Jack Dawson. And a ghost, wich she is not sure of who he was in his former live.
When Jack tells her about his brother Luke who suddenly dissapeared years ago, Sparrow discovers that the ghost who is following her is no one else than Luke.
He won't leave till Sparrow helps him to move along to the 'other side'. And that means she has to tell Jack that she can see Luke's ghost, but will he believe her and can she tell Jack who she is going to like more and more that his brother is dead?
Once you start reading in The Secret Life of Sparrow Delaney, you can't stop.
I thought this was a real good and very original novel. Mostly I find books that have a story about a ghost and a spiritual side confusing, but this one wasn't at all. It was really funny and very entertaining, and Sparrow is just fabulous to read about. Fun and light read about a teenage medium, hilarious! Suzanne Harper also wrote The Juliet Club, wich I have reviewed here and two Hannah Montana books, wich I hope to review someday too!

A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray

1895:The 16 year old Gemma Doyle is living with her mother in India.
Gemma's mother suddenly commits suicide and Gemma is shipped back to London to the boarding school Spence, where young girls are being prepared to marry a rich husband.
Gemma has a strange gift. She can see visions that are coming true shortly after she has seen them. She is followed by a strange and mysterious Indian man who says he is send to watch over her and she makes friends with the most powerfull girls at Spence. And she finds the diary of a former Spence girl, Mary Dowd.
The four girls are going to form The Order, their own secret society. They secretly sneak out of Spence at night and they are going to read the diary of Mary Dowd. They find out that Gemma's mother once was a student at Spence and that strange deaths happened that time.
I finally had the time to read this book after it was at my reading pile for almost a year.
I liked this book, it is a bit of a new Jane Eyre kind of book. It has the same spooky Victorian style, with lots of mysterious people. Made me really curious for the other two books in the Gemma Doyle series...Libba Bray is starring now on Readergirlz, and you can chat with Libba during the Teen Read Week Chats at Readergirlz on Wednesday, October 28th at 6 PM PST/9 PM EST. See here the official Readergirlz banner and click on it to go to the Readergirlz site, and don't miss the Teen Read Week chats from 10 till 23 of October!

The Dharma King by B.G.Stroh

When Samuel Falk Simms after graduating from college steps on a plane for a little break in Tibet, his life changes. In the seat next to him sits Panchen Lama, a buddhist monks who secretly hides a secret map in Sam's backpack. When Sam steps off the plane in Kathmandu, the monk is arrested immediately by Chinese soldiers and Sam is questioned by police officer Zhang. Zhang wants the map, but Sam doesn't know yet it is in his backpack. The map shows the way to the newborn who is born as a reincarnation of the Dalai Lama, and Sam has to everything in his power to prevent the baby for falling in the hands of the Chinese rulers. He meets Parker, a woman from HongKong who lives in Tibet, and together they are going to try to find the baby, hopefully without falling in the hands again of Zhang..
This book really surprised me. I got a review copy of it a long time ago. It was really good and a stunning fictional travel through Tibet. The end was just awesome, I will not post to many spoilers here, just read it yourself!

Shadow of the Dragon by Sherry Garland

Danny (his real name is Duong but he changed it to a more American name so he won't get nasty questions and comments from everyone)

is a Vietnamese boy who lives with his parents, troublemaking sister Kim and grandmother Ba in the Vietnamese community in Texas. Danny has a lot of responsibilities, as he is the oldest son in the family. The apartments is always crowded with family and Danny hasn't much time and privacy for himself. He sometimes even hasn't time for his homework and to meet with his best friend Calvin.

His cousing Sang Le comes to live with them. Sang Le has spent the last years in a refugee camp in Hong Kong, after he spent most of his live in a reeducation camp in Vietnam. While Danny hasn't trouble adjusting to the American way of life, Sang Le has. He has trouble at school and with learning English. And he gets in touch with Cobra, the dangerous Vietnamese gang that hangs around in the backstreets of the neighborhood. Danny is dating Tiffany Marie, a girl from his school, but rumours are that Tiffany's brother Frank is a skinhead with racist actions against Vietnamese people in particular, and soon enough these rumours seem to be true, and Danny and Sang Le's are in danger.

Recently I have read Song of the Buffalo boy, also by author Sherry Garland. That was one of the best books I have read for sure, as books related to Vietnam are one of my most favorite books. But this books was just...amazing!It was so good. wow! The book just give an amazing look in the life of the Vietnamese community in the United States and a look in the Vietnamese family traditions. Danny is just an amazing boy to read about and it was just sometimes sad how he has to deal with al the things that came on his way. I was just speechless about the dramatic end. If you just ask me wich book I really, REALLY could recommend to you, then it would be without a doubt Shadow of the dragon, in a combination pack with Song of the buffalo boy. I truly hope we can expect more books about Vietnamese themes by Sherry Garland