LIE: A Novel

by Caroline Bock

Overview

Everybody knows, nobody's talking. . . .

Seventeen-year-old Skylar Thompson is being questioned by the police. Her boyfriend, Jimmy, stands accused of brutally assaulting two young El Salvadoran immigrants from a neighboring town, and she's the prime witness. Skylar is keeping quiet about what she's seen, but how long can she keep it up?

But Jimmy was her savior. . . .

When her mother died, he was the only person who made her feel safe, protected from the world. But when she begins to appreciate the enormity of what has happened, especially when Carlos Cortez, one of the victims, steps up to demand justice, she starts to have second thoughts about protecting Jimmy. Jimmy's accomplice, Sean, is facing his own moral quandary. He's out on bail and has been offered a plea in exchange for testifying against Jimmy.

The truth must be told. . . .

Sean must decide whether or not to turn on his friend in order to save himself. But most important, both he and Skylar need to figure out why they would follow someone like Jimmy in the first place.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780312668327
Publisher:	St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date:	08/30/2011
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.10(h) x 0.70(d)
Lexile:	HL610L (what's this?)
Age Range:	12 - 18 Years

About the Author

Prior to focusing on her writing, Caroline Bock headed the marketing and public relations departments at Bravo and IFC cable networks. She is a graduate of Syracuse University, where she studied creative writing with Raymond Carver, and The City College of New York, where she earned a MFA in fiction. She lives in New York on Long Island.

Reading Group Guide

Inspired by real events, LIE is a gripping and powerful novel about teens and a hate crime. LIE is also story about choices, about peer and community pressure, about bullying and stereotypes in our society, about making the decisions to lie–or tell the truth–and the consequences.

Everybody knows, nobody's talking . . .

Seventeen-year-old Skylar Thompson is being questioned by the police. Her boyfriend, Jimmy, stands accused of brutally assaulting two brothers of El Salvadoran descent from a neighboring town, and she's the prime witness. Skylar is keeping quiet about what she's seen, but how long can she keep it up?

But Jimmy was her savior . . .

When her mother died, he was the only person who made her feel safe, protected from the world. But when she begins to appreciate the enormity of what has happened, especially when Carlos Cortez, one of the victims, steps up to demand justice, she starts to have second thoughts about protecting Jimmy. Jimmy's accomplice, Sean, is facing his own moral quandary. He's out on bail and has been offered a plea in exchange for testifying against Jimmy.

The truth must be told . . .

Sean must decide whether or not to turn on his friend in order to save himself. But most important, both he and Skylar need to figure out why they would follow someone like Jimmy in the first place.

1) Outline on board and have students follow along with their graphic organizer to create a list of all the characters in LIE.

2) Outline the ten characters each with first person accounts in LIE. (Skylar Thompson, Sean Mayer, Lisa Marie Murano, Tommy Thompson, Principal (Plotinsky), Officer Healey, Gloria Cortez, Carlos Cortez, Coach Martinez, James Seeger, Sr.)

1. Why do you think she choices to write them all in first person? What effect does that have on the reader? Now, taking a step back, probe the students on what is the major question posed in the book to all of the characters? What choices and actions are these ‘first person' characters faced with? In doing so the major problems of each character (their internal and external conflicts) should be discussed in broad terms (see homework assignment).

2. Special Note: You may want to take particular time with the character of Sean Mayer. He makes a drastic and dramatic decision toward the end of the novel (Spoiler Alert: he hangs himself after grappling with decision to tell truth about the hate crime or not). Discuss why suicide is not ever an answer to life's dilemmas (his father and Skylar are devastated). Though, his action does influence another. How does his action influence others? Ultimately, it does propel Skylar Thompson toward her decision and action (to come forward in the very last scene of the novel).

3) Key Thematic Point: What essential characters are not included in first person accounts? There are two essential characters, but only seen through the eyes of the other characters: Jimmy Seeger and Arturo Cortez.

1. Why does the writer choose not to give these two characters their own first person accounts? First, Jimmy? [Note: Author's Insight: I chose not to include Jimmy Seeger as a first person character because he has already made his choice. He choose to be a bully and a hater, and in many ways it is now up to others to decide his fate. In addition, I was more interested in the effect of his actions on others, why do people like Skylar, Sean, and Lisa Marie choose to follow him? What are the consequences?]

2. Why does the writer choose not to give Arturo Cortez his own first person account? [Note: Author's Insight: I felt it was more powerful to see the incident through the eyes of his brother, Carlos Cortez, who is an American citizen, but witnesses what happens to his brother, Arturo Cortez, who is undocumented. The irony inherent in this hate crime is that Jimmy Seeger and Sean Mayer do not know which brother is in the United States with legal documentation and which one is. They are making assumptions on racist stereotypes. In the end, vigilante justice, where one takes justice into one's own hands, is wrong. Admittedly, while the conversation could continue towards one about immigration policies in the United States, the intention of the author was to explore the idea of community and peer pressure. How do we make our own choices in life in light of overwhelming pressure to follow what our parents, peers, and community often thinks, even when we understand, or come to understand as Skylar does, that we no longer agree with what everybody thinks?]

3. Do you agree or don't agree with the writer's decision to not include Jimmy Seeger or Arturo Cortez as first person characters?

4. Discuss the setting of the novel. What is the name of the town? (Trick question: the town, a middle class suburban town on Long Island in New York is never named). Why do you think the town is never named? What are the other key settings? When does the action takes place? The timing is present day,
with the action taking place over a week, from a Monday morning after a hate crime has taken place on a Saturday night to the following Monday morning). How does the setting help define the characters?

Editorial Reviews

Bock's (Confessions of a Carb Queen) first YA novel is a smart, topical story about a racially motivated hate crime, its far-ranging consequences, and the community determined to keep it under wraps. Skylar Thompson, a sensitive and complex loner, is deeply reliant on her boyfriend, Jimmy Seeger, a cocky, clean-cut jock. Shortly before their high school graduation, Jimmy and his best friend Sean are arrested for the vicious beating of Arturo Cortez, a young El Salvadoran mason, who subsequently dies of his injuries. Charismatic but cruel, Jimmy has been leading a gang that goes "beaner-hopping" on Saturday nights, assaulting Latinos for sick thrills. Skylar, who witnessed Jimmy's unprovoked attack on Arturo, suffers a crisis of conscience over whether to cover for her boyfriend; the lies Skylar and others are pressured to tell cut through the town like the Long Island Expressway the title plays on. Avoiding preachiness, Bock handles the novel's multiple viewpoints exceptionally well, rotating among the painfully believable voices of high school students and adults. Her characters may keep the truth inside, but their story reads like a confessional. Ages 12–up. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

Avoiding preachiness, Bock handles the novel's multiple viewpoints exceptionally well, rotating among the painfully believable voices of high school students and adults. Her characters may keep the truth inside, but their story reads like a confessional.” —Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)

“Realistic and devastatingly insightful, this novel can serve as a springboard to classroom and family discussions. Unusual and important.” —Kirkus (Starred Review)

“Told in several voices, Bock creates a suspenseful, gripping, and powerful novel that will keep readers on their toes.” —Library Journal, Starred Review

From the Publisher

This effective, character-driven, episodic story examines the consequences of a hate crime on the teens involved in it.

Bock focuses mainly on Skylar, a shy girl, and on her loyalty to her boyfriend Jimmy, whom readers soon learn has beaten a Salvadoran immigrant to death. Although Jimmy's in jail, the police have little evidence against him. "Everybody knows. Nobody's talking," runs the mantra among the high-school crowd that knows full well Jimmy beats up Latinos every Saturday night. The author alternates short chapters written from different characters' points of view. Readers get to know the involved teenagers and their families, as well as the victim, his brother and their mother. By portraying, simply and without comment, the reactions of the various characters, the author conveys the horror of the crime and the devastating effects on all involved, including those responsible. Sean, Jimmy's best friend and companion on the fateful night, can't deal with his guilt but also knows he dare not tell the truth. Lisa Marie sticks by Jimmy with no doubts. Skylar never doubts her love for Jimmy but faces a difficult choice when it transpires that the truth must come from her, or it will not come out at all.

Realistic and devastatingly insightful, this novel can serve as a springboard to classroom and family discussions. Unusual and important. (Fiction. 12 & up)

Kirkus Reviews