So I have to admit that in the case of this book, I didn't look farther than the cover, and wasn't actually quite aware of what this book was about. I assumed being a teen book and with this title it was about a teen issue. But no, it was a bit deeper than that. It is set after World War II is over. Evie's stepfather, the only father she's ever known, returns from the war, and he is immediately getting back into the swing of things and opens up two appliance stores and seems to be doing well. Soon Joe starts getting weird phone calls, and acting weird, and decides to take the family on a vacation right before school is supposed to start, down to Florida. In Florida, they meet a nice couple, the Graysons, that Joe talks about going into business with. Also, a guy named Peter Coleridge shows up. He is an ex-GI who served with Joe. And Evie falls for him. Her mother is beautiful, and Evie feels like an ugly duckling, especially when her mother won't even let her start looking like a teen, and growing up.
One day the Graysons get kicked out of the hotel. It turns out that they are Jewish, and in the part of Florida they're in, they don't allow Jewish people. Evie also finds out from Peter, that he and Joe stole belongings that were found near concentration camps that had no one left alive to claim them. And it is that money he used to start his appliance stores, and he was supposed to have shared it with Peter.
As you can guess Joe is not happy with Peter showing up. So Joe, and Peter, and Evie's mom go out on a boat, right as a hurricane is coming. And, when they come back, one of them isn't there. So that is what was seen, and what gets lied about.
Not too bad a book. I like that it had more substance than I originally thought. It was a quick read though, which is nice as it was my "at school-lunch" read.
