We Were Liars by e. lockhart

After I attended the Georgia Library Media Association's 2016 Summer Institute, I was invigorated to read more YA Literature. Specifically, after I attended a Presentation about the Georgia Peach Book Awards by the wonderful, wonderful, wonderful Shanna Miles (seriously, I want to be her when I grow up, simply because of the passion she has for serving her students at the South Atlanta High Media Center, she had a life skills conference at the Media Center that sounded simply amazing). Anyway, I digress. After attending this session, I realized just how much that I did not know about current YA literature, and I sought to remedy this fact by reading from the Peach Award backlist.

Image Credit: Sinay, N. (2010, April 9). Pulau Ubin in black and white. Retrieved June 26, 2016, from https://goo.gl/Vdq42z. This is how I viewed the staff dock at Beechwood Island

This weekend, I read We Were Liars by e. lockhart. In this story, we meet Cadence Sinclair Eastman, her cousins Mirren Sinclair Sheffield, Jonathan Sinclair Dennis, and their friend Gatwick Matthew Patil, also known as the Liars. This group (well at least the cousins) has a very wealthy and privileged background where they summer at Beechwood Island, a private island owned by their family in the Cape Cod region close to Martha's Vineyard. This novel follows Cadence and the Liars through her fifteenth summer to her seventeenth summer. I won't give too much away, but Cadence, the Liars, and her family suffer through one of the worst tragedies I have ever read about. In the throes of reading this novel, Cadence almost came off as an unreliable narrator and I almost put this novel down. However, in the end, there was explanation and closure. Cadence, who honestly comes across as a member of the 1% and this might be annoying for some readers, does experience a tremendous amount of growth as she struggles to remember the details of her accident.

Image Credit: Pustovit, V. (2014, June 28). Fire. Retrieved June 26, 2016, from https://goo.gl/LrryWj

Memorable passages include:

Cadence about her relationship with Gat "...I saw Gat and I saw that rose in his hand, and in one moment, with the sunlight from the window shining in on him, the apples on the kitchen counter, the smell of wood and ocean in the air, I did call it love. It was love, and it hit me so hard I leaned against the screen door that still stood between us, just to stay vertical" (lockhart, 2014 p. 15).

Cady's mom speaking with her about why they are not discussing her grandmother Tipper's passing: "It was important, she said; it was kind; it was best. Don't cause distress, she said. Don't remind people of a loss. "Do you understand, Cady? Silence is a protective coating over pain" (lockhart, 2014 p. 29).

Cadence did not return to Beechwood island during her sixteenth summer. She went away with her father. After this summer, Cadence said "The fall after the European trip, I started a project. I gave away something of mine every day" (lockhart, 2014 p. 45).

Cadence realizing that her family places great importance over material wealth. "The jolt of a new purchase makes Mummy feel powerful, if only for a moment. I think there is a status to having a house full of pretty things...she's got power--because she's got money" (lockhart, 2014 p. 46).

Cadence's recognition after her injury "If I Google traumatic brain injury, most websites tell me selective amnesia is a consequence. When there's damage to the brain, it's not uncommon for a patient to forget stuff. She will be unable to piece together a coherent story of the trauma" (lockhart, 2014 p. 48).

Final Thoughts:

For all of Cadence's unreliability as a narrator and the fact that this story is about the 1%, Cadence's story is very worthwhile. I believe that it will appeal to a wide variety of people. Once the reader learns Cadence's truth, it will stick with them for a good long while.