Caught in a Lie

Susannah D. Ketchum, a former teacher-librarian at the Bishop Strachan
School in Toronto, serves on the Southern Ontario Library Services
Board.

Kim dreams of being a model and escaping from boring old school. Her
parents being totally opposed to the idea, Kim resorts to lying, forging
letters of permission, and “borrowing” money from her university
account. Eventually, desperate to disguise her badly chewed nails and
late for an “audition” with Ms Mode magazine, Kim finds herself
shoplifting. In the furor that ensues Kim learns some hard lessons about
the world of modeling, about her boyfriend, and about herself.

Caught in a Lie is a companion to Walking a Thin Line, a popular novel
about eating disorders. Readers who enjoyed the latter will probably be
eager to revisit its characters and to see a number of its events
recounted from a different perspective. Unfortunately, Caught in a Lie
is a much less satisfying novel. Kim, the narrator, is so shallow and
self-absorbed that the story is pulled off-balance. Teen magazines
comprise the bulk of Kim’s favorite reading. She is constantly trying
their quizzes. “I like ... feeling smarter than ... [everyone]. Nerds
like Andrea handle school well, but I’m good at real life.” Faced
with an unavoidable math quiz, Kim gets some last-minute help from
Stephanie. “Lauren and the other loner, Andrea, are sitting with her,
but I pay no attention to them.” When Jay, Kim’s boyfriend, smiles
at Lauren, Kim wonders, “Why does he bother with her? I want to scream
at him; I’m the pretty one.” Indeed, Kim is so unpleasant and
immature that her complete metamorphosis in the final 15 pages of the
book is difficult to credit.

On the other hand, Sylvia McNicoll writes competently, and young girls
will probably enjoy the magazine excerpts and beauty tips that Kim is
forever quoting. As well, since quite a few teens dream of modeling,
undergoing vicariously some of Kim’s unpleasant experiences in the
modeling world may be salutary. Recommended with reservations.