We Were Liars - by E. Lockhart

This is not a book to be taken lightly.  It is a book for teens, and I would say age 12 would be a good time to read it.  That said, it was an amazing and surprising story that I could not put down.

It's all about four kids who grow up together during summer's at their families private island off the coast of Cape Cod in Massachusetts.  Rich kids, that's right.  Privileged trust-fund children of privileged trust fund mothers, and everybody is just about perfect.  They are, after all, the Sinclair family.

The only thing is, everything is not quite as perfect as it seems. The title is perfect, and hits you on different levels by the end of the book.  As you read, you begin to realize that characters are twisted in unexpected ways, and that they are all twisted together as well.  The story is told from a seventeen-year-old girl, Cadence, about her fifteen-year-old self one summer on the island, and what happened that summer remains a mystery to us, and to Cadence as well, until the very end of the book.  It is suspenseful, full of interesting bends, and a very rewarding read.

The "teen" rating reflects some thematic elements that elementary-age children just don't need to think about.  Grab a copy of this for the teen in your life, and let them know it will be one knockout of a story.