Liar by Justine Larbalestier, Bloomsbury, 2009.ISBN: 978-1-59990-305-7
Plot Summary
“My father is a liar and so am I. But I’m going to stop. I have to stop. I will tell you my story and I will tell it straight…That’s my promise. This time I truly mean it” (Larbalestier, 2009, p. 3). Micah Wilkins is a habitual liar and teller of tales but as she begins her story she swears to tell the truth; this time it’s too important not to. When Micah hears rumors that her secret boyfriend, Zach, has been murdered and that she is a prime suspect she decides to tell all…or at least most of it anyway. But how is a compulsive liar supposed to stop lying when she has been doing so all her life and when telling the truth means giving up a secret that is generations old? Determined to protect herself, her family’s secret, and her cherished moments with Zach, she decides to find out what really happened to her boyfriend. But as she tries to track his suspected murderer things quickly become complicated as both narrator and reader have trouble differentiating between reality and fantasy.
Critical Evaluation
Even the most reluctant reader will have difficulty putting down Larbalestier’s gripping book Liar. Told in three parts, in a series of vignettes, Micah swears to tell only the truth. But, as a habitual liar, Micah finds telling the truth to anyone, even the unknown reader, to be nigh impossible. In fact, Liar proves to be riveting not only because of the suspenseful mystery found within but because of Micah’s ever changing story. For example, Micah tells of how her biology teacher, Yayeko, explains the body’s decomposition process only days after Zach’s announced death. “I understand that you’re all upset, but for some people understanding the processes involved can help with grief…” Yayeko is reported as saying (Larbalestier, 2009, p. 36). It is only after almost two hundred pages that readers learn that Micah created this story: “my biology teacher, did not describe the decomposition of Zach’s body,” she admits, “I made that up” (p. 219). This sort of occurrence happens frequently throughout the novel. For example, in her narrative Micah sketches the character of her annoying little brother only to later admit that she doesn’t have one. She changes her story yet again later in the novel claiming that she had a little brother but an accident occurred and he is no longer alive.
Throughout the book, readers feel a wide array of emotions toward the narrator from sympathy for her plight to angry and betrayal at her constant lies. But Micah’s unreliability only serves to show how great Larbalestier’s book truly is. Not only must readers question what is and isn’t real within the pages of the text but they must also examine their own reactions as they struggle to pick out fact from fiction; they must examine why they feel such disgust and betrayal when interacting with Micah’s narrative. Larbalestier’s novel makes readers question the importance of honesty, trust, and the great deal of damage a lie can cause. While sometimes unbelievable, particularly in the second part of the book, overall Liar is a masterfully crafted novel and should be in every school and public library.
Reader’s Annotation
Chronic liar Micah promises to tell the truth this time; she swears. With her as a possible suspect to her sort-of boyfriend’s murder how could she not?
A Side Note
One of the main reasons why I wanted to read Liar was due to the controversy over its cover. Initially the advanced reader’s copy had a different cover than the one displayed on the published book. As seen in the above picture, the publishers chose to depict Micah as a Caucasian girl. On her blog Larbalestier (2009) explained, “I never wanted a girl’s face on the cover…I wanted readers to be free to imagine her as they wanted”. Unfortunately, Bloomsbury, the U.S. publishers of Liar, decided to put a girl’s face on the cover despite Larbalestier’s wishes. “Bloomsbury has had a lot of success with photos of girls on their covers and that’s what they wanted” Larbalestier (2009) explained.
Perhaps the most telling part of her comments over the initial cover art is her concern over readers finding Micah believable: "One of the most upsetting impacts of the cover is that it's led readers to question everything about Micah: If she doesn't look anything like the girl on the cover maybe nothing she says is true. At which point the entire book, and all my hard work, crumbles. No one in Australia has written to ask me if Micah is really black. No one in Australia has said that they will not be buying Liar because 'my teens would find the cover insulting'. Both responses are heartbreaking" (Larbalestier, 2009).
Fortunately, the cover controversy has a happy, if not altogether satisfactory, ending; Bloomsbury ultimately chose cover art that depicts an African American girl. However, despite not agreeing over Liar's cover art, Larbalestier wishes to assure her fans that she has a wonderful partnership with Bloomsbury and loves working with them (Larbalestier, 2009).
About the Author
Justine Larbalestier is an Australian author whose parents were anthropologists. She is not only the author of books but anthologies, scholarly articles, and films as well. She has collaborated with famous authors such as Holly Black and Ellen Kushner .
She currently has five YA books to her name and is working on another which is set in the 1930s. When she is not writing she enjoys spending time with her author husband Scott Westerfeld. They spend half their year in Sydney and half in New York City. As a side note, Justine Larbalestier dislikes cars and refuses to learn how to drive one. Instead of being behind the driver’s seat she would much rather lounge about in the Sydney Botanical Gardens.
Larbalestier, J. (2009). Bio. Retrieved from http://justinelarbalestier.com/bio/
Larbalestier, J. (2009). Personal faq. Retrieved from http://justinelarbalestier.com/faq/personal-faq/
Genre
Horror, Mystery, Paranormal
Tags
Basketball, Central Park, New York, 1st person narrator, honesty, lies
Curriculum Ties
This would be the perfect book to use when discussing unreliable narrators. It could be paired with Agatha Christie’s Murder of Roger Ackroyd.
Booktalk Ideas
--Give the booktalk as Micah. Make sure to lie and correct yourself throughout the talk.
Reading Level/Interest Age
Reading level: 3rd grade
Interest level: 9th-12th grades (14-18 yrs.)
AR BookFinder (2010). Liar. Retrieved from http://www.arbookfind.com/bookdetail.aspx?q=132850&l=EN&slid=190784380
Challenge Issues
Premarital sex is briefly mentioned in the novel. If challenged, librarians should point to how Liar connects with school curriculum and should explain library collection policy. They should also point out how Liar positively discusses important themes such as honesty, betrayal, and trust.
Favorite Quotes
“My second essay for the principal was on the virtues of honesty. I ran out of things to say on the first page” (p. 33).
“I like order, and libraries are all about order” (p. 99).
Why Was This Included?
I included Liar because it was nominated for the 2010 JHunt award and I hope to eventually read most of the JHunt nominees. I also wanted to include it in my blog because of its controversial first cover. In addition, I did not have many suspense stories in my blog and I wanted to include this genre.
AdBooks. (n.d.) Adbooks. Retrieved from http://groups.yahoo.com/group/adbooks/
Wow thanks for all this info!! I can't wait to read this novel!!
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