Book Review: IF THE WITNESS LIED
1. BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Cooney, Caroline B. 2009. IF THE WITNESS LIED. New York, NY: Random House Children’s Books.
2. PLOT SUMMARY:
The four Fountain children are orphans. First, their mother dies of cancer shortly after the birth of her fourth child, Tris, and because she chose to have the baby rather than chemo, Tris’s birth becomes a media flashpoint. Then, soon after the mother’s death, the father is killed in a freak accident by Tris, turning the toddler into an even bigger headline. But with the family disintegrating and the children’s guardian selling the story to make a docudrama, the three older siblings don’t know who to trust or how to protect little Tris from the true evil lurking in their lives.
3. REFLECTIONS:
Caroline B. Cooney, famed author of THE FACE ON THE MILK CARTON, has penned another tightly packed thriller in this realistic drama. Somehow, she has managed to create a story which both unwinds and winds up at the same time. By offering different perspectives on the Fountain family’s tragedies (each sibling, the siblings’ friends, Tris’s babysitter, school officials, and the media) details of both the mother’s slow death during her pregnancy with Tris, and the sudden death of Tris’s father in a freak accident, unwind the story which has been twisted by TV, and each brother or sister’s feelings of guilt. At the same time, Tris’s two sisters, Madison and Smith, and brother Jack become bound more and more tightly by the realization that their “Aunt” Cheryl has not only sold their story to a TV show intent on presenting it as a “docudrama,” but also may have killed their father, then lied about it to make Tris caused the accident.
A master storyteller, Cooney winds up the tension as the three kids, along with their friend and Tris’s babysitter try to solve the crime while protecting Tris from the TV spotlight and “Aunt” Cheryl. I found myself rooting right along with “Team Tris” as they call themselves, and trying to figure out how four high school kids could possibly thwart an evil adult who has legal custody of the family and evade the media at the same time. By the end, the book is impossible to put down, and although some critics have lamented that the title gives away Aunt Cheryl’s crime and that the ending is a bit too tidy, this isn’t really a mystery, but rather a thriller, so the question isn’t what did the aunt do, but why and how can the kids prove it. As far as the tidy ending is concerned, the entire novel hints at divine intervention – the fact that Tris’s two older sisters decide to come home on the same day, and that Jack decides to cut school and go home, fearing that Cheryl will throw out treasured possessions that belonged to the parents – possessions which ultimately the aunt’s true crimes. Each sibling wonders at some point if the parents are trying to send them a message, and an underlying theme of the book is faith, so when the grandparents show up at the end to help save the day, it may just be another example of heavenly help.
Regardless, IF THE WITNESS LIED is more about the strength of family and friends, healing and trust, and less about a crime and how it’s solved, so inconsistencies and tidy resolutions can be, in my opinion, dismissed. The novel also brings up many ethical questions about the role of the media in the lives of ordinary people who have suffered a tragedy. Reading IF THE WITNESS LIED during the coverage and frenzy surrounding the early passing of Michael Jackson led me to think again and again of his children and how they will manage to heal under the seemingly insatiable public eye. Hopefully, young adults who read the novel will come away having been entertained, but also with empathy for those who end up front page news.
IF THE WITNESS LIED will appeal to anyone who enjoys realistic thrillers/dramas, such as April Henry’s SHOCKPOINT, Sarah Dessen’s novels, or THE BLUFORD HIGH series.
4. CONNECTIONS:
*Science and Critical Thinking: While reading the book, students could chart the clues and use a series such as 24/7: Science Behind the Scenes Forensic Files to write a continuation of the story, building a legal case against “Aunt” Cheryl with the evidence found by the characters in IF THE WITNESS LIED.
1. BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Cooney, Caroline B. 2009. IF THE WITNESS LIED. New York, NY: Random House Children’s Books.
2. PLOT SUMMARY:
The four Fountain children are orphans. First, their mother dies of cancer shortly after the birth of her fourth child, Tris, and because she chose to have the baby rather than chemo, Tris’s birth becomes a media flashpoint. Then, soon after the mother’s death, the father is killed in a freak accident by Tris, turning the toddler into an even bigger headline. But with the family disintegrating and the children’s guardian selling the story to make a docudrama, the three older siblings don’t know who to trust or how to protect little Tris from the true evil lurking in their lives.
3. REFLECTIONS:
Caroline B. Cooney, famed author of THE FACE ON THE MILK CARTON, has penned another tightly packed thriller in this realistic drama. Somehow, she has managed to create a story which both unwinds and winds up at the same time. By offering different perspectives on the Fountain family’s tragedies (each sibling, the siblings’ friends, Tris’s babysitter, school officials, and the media) details of both the mother’s slow death during her pregnancy with Tris, and the sudden death of Tris’s father in a freak accident, unwind the story which has been twisted by TV, and each brother or sister’s feelings of guilt. At the same time, Tris’s two sisters, Madison and Smith, and brother Jack become bound more and more tightly by the realization that their “Aunt” Cheryl has not only sold their story to a TV show intent on presenting it as a “docudrama,” but also may have killed their father, then lied about it to make Tris caused the accident.
A master storyteller, Cooney winds up the tension as the three kids, along with their friend and Tris’s babysitter try to solve the crime while protecting Tris from the TV spotlight and “Aunt” Cheryl. I found myself rooting right along with “Team Tris” as they call themselves, and trying to figure out how four high school kids could possibly thwart an evil adult who has legal custody of the family and evade the media at the same time. By the end, the book is impossible to put down, and although some critics have lamented that the title gives away Aunt Cheryl’s crime and that the ending is a bit too tidy, this isn’t really a mystery, but rather a thriller, so the question isn’t what did the aunt do, but why and how can the kids prove it. As far as the tidy ending is concerned, the entire novel hints at divine intervention – the fact that Tris’s two older sisters decide to come home on the same day, and that Jack decides to cut school and go home, fearing that Cheryl will throw out treasured possessions that belonged to the parents – possessions which ultimately the aunt’s true crimes. Each sibling wonders at some point if the parents are trying to send them a message, and an underlying theme of the book is faith, so when the grandparents show up at the end to help save the day, it may just be another example of heavenly help.
Regardless, IF THE WITNESS LIED is more about the strength of family and friends, healing and trust, and less about a crime and how it’s solved, so inconsistencies and tidy resolutions can be, in my opinion, dismissed. The novel also brings up many ethical questions about the role of the media in the lives of ordinary people who have suffered a tragedy. Reading IF THE WITNESS LIED during the coverage and frenzy surrounding the early passing of Michael Jackson led me to think again and again of his children and how they will manage to heal under the seemingly insatiable public eye. Hopefully, young adults who read the novel will come away having been entertained, but also with empathy for those who end up front page news.
IF THE WITNESS LIED will appeal to anyone who enjoys realistic thrillers/dramas, such as April Henry’s SHOCKPOINT, Sarah Dessen’s novels, or THE BLUFORD HIGH series.
4. CONNECTIONS:
*Science and Critical Thinking: While reading the book, students could chart the clues and use a series such as 24/7: Science Behind the Scenes Forensic Files to write a continuation of the story, building a legal case against “Aunt” Cheryl with the evidence found by the characters in IF THE WITNESS LIED.
*ELA and Critical Thinking: IF THE WITNESS LIED brings up a bevy of questions about the ethics of media coverage and the rights of minors. After brainstorming the questions raised by the novel, students could form teams and research issues such as who gets custody of children after the death of parents, at what age should a sibling be allowed to become guardian of a younger sibling, what laws could protect minors from unscrupulous guardians, how can minors be protected from invasive media coverage, what should/shouldn’t the media cover, etc. The topics could then be discussed in terms of pros and cons and the class could engage in a debate. It would be an excellent way to get students to use text/factual evidence to support opinions.
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