We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

1. Bibliography:

Lockhart, E. We Were Liars. Ember. New York. 2014. ISBN: 9780385741279

2. Plot Summary:

Cadence Sinclair, Cady for short is a part of a very wealthy family. Her family owns Beechwood island near Martha’s Vineyard. She retells apart of her life from 15-17 years old. In those times an accident happens to her and her regaining her memory.

3. Characters:

Cady is the protagonist in the story. She has conflicts not only with herself, but with the constant bickering of material possessions. Cady dynamic character does change her with the events in the story. She was once okay with her material possessions to giving everything away. All of these stems from the fire.

The littles and aunties are flat characters that do not develop in the story. They just grow older, and think Cady is a drug user. Yet that is all that is left of her cousins. 

Grandfather is a stereotype character. He is all about his material possessions like his houses on the main land and the island. He pawns his daughters against one another to be his favorite, so they will inherit his fortune.

4. Setting:

The setting is set mainly on a private island called Beechwood Island. This alone represents the wealth from this family. This island is near Martha’s Vineyard. This sets the tone of the wealth of the family. There are four houses, each house is slightly different. These differences symbolize the hierarchy of the sisters. The grander Clairmont is it for the head of the family. This house is the largest and more expensive. Another setting is in Vermont. The house that Cady lives in again represents their wealth. Her mother Penny breeds dogs. These animals are high in demand and expensive for the exclusive.

5. Illustrations:

There are only two illustrations in the book. The Sinclair family tree is important to see which family belongs or belonged to one another. This also explain which house is theirs on Beechwood. The most important illustration is a black and white hand drawn map. This map is very useful to help the reader get a visual when she is talking about certain places in the book. It helps with distance, and all of the building and other special areas are.  

6. Theme:

The theme of the story is mental illness. This theme is not at known until the end of the story. The author leaves hints, but the reader will not pick the symbols up until the end. She highlights sunburn bodies, and later the reader finds out those who were sun burnt were those who burned in the fire. The author also only allows Cady to talk to the deceased. Cady is confused at times when Carrie is wondering around at night, crying and wearing Johnny’s hoodie. Another symbol for a mental illness.  The family allows Cady to remember what happened that night on her own. Her not remembering because it was a traumatic experience is another way the author explains this theme. A secondary theme is materialism. The author shows the theme in several ways. Materialistic is found throughout the story with the sisters constantly bickering about objects they want, or want their father to leave them. The author also shows that Cady gives away all of her possessions. Even the ones that mean a lot to her. Her pillow goes to a homeless girl, and she gives a picture away of her grandmother.

7. Cultural Marker:

Stereotypes are apparent inside the story. The grandfather’s wealth is mentioned several times. The daughters bicker several times in the story about who will get what when he passes. Another stereotype is the grandfather does not accept Gat or Ed, because of their race. He threatens to disinherit Carrie and Cady if anything goes on between them. The authenticity of the story portrays to be accurate. When one goes through a traumatic experience a mental illness can occur. The book shows good facts about the wealthy and how they act. Cady is not allowed to make a scene. There are no source notes, or biographical information to explain the culture. The minority character in the story are not seen as equal. There is a brief mention of their race at the beginning of the book. It is again said when Gat and Cady want their forbidden love to become something more, and the grandfather says he will disinherit her. There are no non-English words. This story is of high quality. You could put this story in a small town and the events happen of a fire, mental illness, and forbidden love can happen anywhere. 

8. Connections Teacher and Library Corner:

Students will create a newspaper article covering the Sinclair’s events. They may choice to write about the family background, divorce, the fire, Beechwood Island, or any other major events. The teacher will give the choice of some to create a political cartoon if wanted.

9. You Tube:
E, Lockhart talks about her book and the twists.

10. Review Excerpts:

"Surprising, thrilling, and beautifully executed in spare, precise, and lyrical prose, Lockhart spins a tragic family drama, the roots of which go back generations. And the ending? Shhhh. Not telling. (But it’s a doozy) ...This is poised to be big." Booklist

"Lockhart has created a mystery with an ending most readers won’t see coming, one so horrific it will prompt some to return immediately to page one to figure out how they missed it. At the center of it is a girl who learns the hardest way of all what family means, and what it means to lose the one that really mattered to you." Publishers Weekly

"Riveting, brutal and beautifully told." Kirkus

"The ending is a stunner that will haunt readers for a long time to come." School Library Journal

"A taut psychological mystery marked by an air of uneasy disorientation...The ultimate reveal is shocking both for its tragedy and for the how-could-I-have-not-suspected-that? feeling it leaves us with. But we didn’t, which is Lockhart’s commendable triumph." The Horn Book

11. Children’s Review:

“I loved this book! It is one of the best books ever! I can’t believe that she did all of that and then lost her memory. This is a must read.”  Yolanda

12. Awards and Recognitions:

2014 School Library Journal, Best Books

2014 Goodreads Best Young Adult Novel

2015 ALA Ten Best Fiction for Young Adults

2015 Goodreads Choice Award for Best Young Adult Fiction

13. Book Suggestions by E. Lockhart

The Boyfriend List: 15 Guys, 11 Shrink Appointments, 4 Ceramic Frogs and Me, Ruby Oliver (Ruby Oliver Quartet) ISBN: 978-0385732079

Genuine Fraud ISBN: 9780385744782

Other books:

One of us is Lying by Karen M. McManus ISBN: 9781524714680

Tell Me Three Things by Julie Buxbaum ISBN: 9780553535679

14. Official Website:

Check out her official website. On her website she has videos of her reading excerpts on her book.

See Mrs. Lockhart's official blog.

15. Rating: I give this book 4 stars. It had great plot twists. I did find myself lost because parts were slow, and I had several questions.