The Liar

Lies take life in this excellent novel about a young Israeli girl who finds power in deceit. Nofar Shalev is 17, exceedingly unremarkable, and stuck in the shadow of her beautiful younger sister, Maya. She spends her summer evenings working at an ice cream parlor and hopes to be noticed by her high school crush. Instead, she encounters Avishai Milner, a winner of a televised singing contest who is now washed up and without future prospects. After Avishai lashes out verbally at Nofar, the teenage girl flees to the alley behind the shop, and Avishai follows and grabs her, causing Nofar to scream. When asked by police if she had been assaulted, Nofar says yes. This lie snowballs into an unstoppable force, garnering media attention and sweeping up friends and family members along with it as Nofar battles between her building guilt and her fear of rejection if she comes clean. Though some characters fall to the wayside and leave the reader curious as to their purpose in the story, Nofar’s internal journey makes up for it. This tender and satisfying coming-of-age story leads readers to question how a split second can change lives. (Sept.)