Summary
Evie lives in Queens with her beautiful mother, her stepfather and her step-grandmother (Grandma Glad). Evie's stepfather, Joe, has just returned from World War II and is welcoming new success. He decided to take the family to Palm Beach, Florida for a vacation at the beginning of fall. Fall is Palm Beach's dead season and there aren't many things to do or people to meet. Evie's family soon meets Peter, a gorgeous 23 year old who knew Joe in the war. Evie quickly falls in love Peter but he's hiding a secret about her stepfather and her mother, that even Evie doesn't catch onto until it's too late. During a hurricane, everyone but Evie goes on a boat ride, and Peter turns up dead. Now Evie must decide whose side she's really on and what's more important- true love or family love.
Suggested Activities
This could be a great book used to highlight certain times of history. It would be great to have this, along with other books, displayed when middle school classes are covering World War II. Blundell's book would be a great choice for girls who are less interested in the War but more interested in the culture of the time. With lots of talk of "Commie Spies" it would also be a great lead way into the Cold War.
One fun activity with this book, and other historical fiction, is to have the kids who read it research the historical facts in the book. They could try to see how accurate the book actually was and try to find any false information about the time period.
Reviews
World War II is over;
fifteen-year-old Evie’s stepfather, Joe Spooner, is home; and
with several of his newly opened
appliance stores busily supplying returning GIs
with a post-rationing glut of
consumer goods, Joe has announced a spontaneous
trip to Palm Beach, Florida for
Evie and her mother. Palm Beach isn’t quite what
Evie expected. It’s a ghost town
in autumn, and their hotel—one of the very few
even open before the winter
season—has few residents. Fellow guests the Graysons
seem like a friendly enough
couple, decent dinner companions who propose an
entrepreneurial venture with
Joe; another visitor, Peter Coleridge, a young veteran
who knew Joe before they returned
from Austria, quickly becomes the object of
Evie’s infatuation. Evie is so
thoroughly smitten that she fails to interpret the halfheard
conversations of the adults
around her or to question carefully the increasingly
odd behavior of her parents.
Eventually, though, even a lovestruck teen can’t
ignore the explosion of tensions
in their tiny, closed community—the Graysons are
Jewish and unable to transact
any business at all in restricted Palm Beach; Peter is
blackmailing Joe for his share
of illegally obtained treasure confiscated by the Nazis
from their Jewish victims; Mom
has been slipping out with Peter on the sly. When
Peter is found dead after a
boating excursion with Joe and his wife, suspicion falls
squarely on Evie’s parents, and
it’s the testimony of the betrayed teen at the inquest
that will determine their
futures. Blundell crafts a richly atmospheric period piece,
reminiscent of the films that
intrigue adolescent Evie, movies about worldly wise
dames played by Joan Crawford or
Barbara Stanwyck. The girl’s heartbreaking
coming-of-age tale rings true as
she brazenly joins the world of adult deception
and lies yet manages ultimately
to pull off her own small but significant stand for
social justice.
My Thoughts
I felt like this book less focused on the history part of "historical fiction" and leaned more into the fiction side of things. While the fact that her father had returned from war, that was how Peter knew him and together they had taken some things that helped them earn money from Austria helped move the plot along it wasn't the biggest factor. This book could have been set at almost any time and could still have the same plot line- just instead of World War II, Joe could owe Peter money some other way.
However, I still thought this book was great- especially the end. I felt the overall themes of this book were strong and very mature, yet any teen could relate. I loved how Evie was so in love and blind to all around here. As a reader there was so many times when I put the pieces together faster than Evie, which was frustrating, but also realistic to show how blind love can be. Also, the end of the book was just a shock - in a good way and a bad way. Evie betrayed someone she loved to save someone else she loved. I think that really showed the reader that sometimes things aren't black and white and sometimes there's no right choice, just two bad choices that you have to make the best of. The book was very moving and I would recommend it to anyone.
Bibliography
Blundell, J. (2008). What I saw and how I lied. New York, NY: Scholastic, Inc.
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