Julie Albright is a girl living in San Francisco in the 1970s. Her mom is divorced, and Julie lives with her and her older sister, Tracy, but they also spend time with their Dad.
Thanksgiving is coming, and Julie's mom is hard at work preparing. This year, Julie and her family won't be celebrating by themselves, because Julie's mom has invited her new boyfriend, Hank, and some of the Vietnam vets that he helps counsel and rehabilitate at the Veterans Center.
Meanwhile, a new girl has started at Julie's school, named Carla Warner. Carla comes from a big family- six kids!, and her Mom and Dad are Doctors. They have a gorgeous Dog, and they live in one of San Francisco's famous painted ladies- Victorian homes painted in bright, often contrasting colors.
Julie likes Carla. Carla is fun to spend time with. But as Julie spends time with her new friend, Carla's stories about her family make less and less sense. When she sees Carla working at the fruit stand at the market, she sees the woman at the fruit stand seemingly threatening her friend with a knife. But Carla says she is working there for her father, who is a private eye- and the woman is a dangerous criminal.
Julie has seen the woman go through the trash in front of her house, but Carla's changing of her father's profession worries her. Carla says he's both- his being a doctor is his cover. Julie accepts this, but she still gets an uneasy feeling.
Meanwhile, another of Julie's friends tried to find out about Carla's two brothers, who study at the Maxwell Academy, according to her. But there is no such school in the city. Things seem better when Carla shows Julie her Dad's house, and their dog, but must push her out of their house when her Dad gets home- he doesn't want her to let anyone in when he isn't there.
But when Carla is out sick, she takes Carla's homework back to her house- only to find that Carla doesn't even live there. She only walks the dog for the man who lives there, so her dog isn't even her dog! But what will Carla say when Julie confronts her about her lies? Is there any chance for their friendship to survive Carla's constant lying and backpeddling?
This was a good book, the Mystery here being: Who is Carla, really, and what's going on in her life? Why does she feel the need to lie about her family and what is going on with them? In the end, all the lies come out, and so does the truth, and of course, the reason that she lied about herself is very human and believable.
And of course, being a book for kids, the book has a happy, or at least mostly happy ending. Not everything is okay for Carla's family, but things are looking up, and it seems as if they might eventually have a completely happy ending someday. The Mystery is short, but good, and enjoyable for kids to read, the moral being that even kids who lie about themselves don't generally do it for personal aggrandizement- sometimes they do it out of embarrassment.
I think girls who enjoy the American girl series would enjoy this book, but even young readers will think that Julie is awfully gullible to fall for Carla's stories, especially when the author telegraphs them for the reader. But the story takes place after all the other six American Girl Julie books, so if they haven't read most of the series, they can still easily figure out what is going on with Julie's family and who she is. Recommended.
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