Tell Me No Lies by Adele Griffin - OPTIONAL

Tell Me No Lies by Adele Griffin, 352 pages.  Algonquin Young Readers (Workman), 2018.  $19.  

Content: Language: PG-13 (31 swears); Mature Content: PG-13; Violence: PG-13.  

BUYING ADVISORY: HS – OPTIONAL  

AUDIENCE APPEAL: LOW  

Lizzy decides that her senior year at high school is going to be different than her previous high school experience.  Lizzy also wants to hid the fact that she has grand mal seizures.  Lizzy latches onto the new girl, Claire, and Claire helps Lizzy to see and experience a more adventurous lifestyle.  Lizzy also has a new boyfriend, Matt Ashby, but it quickly becomes apparent that Matt isn’t being completely honest with her.  As Lizzy tries to become something more than her previous nerd self, she starts to realize that everyone has their own secrets and she must find her place among them.  

This book takes place in the eighties, so there are a lot of cultural references that might confuse young readers of today.  Lizzy wasn’t easy to relate to or necessarily like because of all her insecurities and how quickly she wanted to give up everything that she had worked for.  The content includes graphic sex talk, heavy make-out sessions, underage drinking, reference to rape and a suicide.  

Reviewer, C. Peterson.