If the Witness Lied

Caroline B. Cooney

May 2009 · Sold by Delacorte Press

About this ebook

Choices do matter and forgiveness is possible.

Jack Fountain knows that what’s happened to his family sounds like the most horrible soap opera anyone could ever write. But it happened—to Jack; his parents; his sisters, Smithy and Madison. And to his baby brother, Tris. What made it worse was that the media wanted to know every detail.

Now it’s almost Tris’s third birthday, and everything’s starting again. Aunt Cheryl, who’s living with the Fountain children now that their parents are gone, has decided that they will heal only if they work through their pain—on camera. The very identities they’ve created for themselves are called into question. In less than twenty-four hours their fate will change yet again, but this time they vow to not be exploited and to discover the truth.

In this gripping thriller, Caroline B. Cooney details how love, devotion, and forgiveness make resilience—and recovery—possible.

Ratings and reviews

A family has been torn apart by tragedy. The first is the death of the mother after giving birth to the last child. It was a choice she made against what others believed was best for her and her family. Their mother finds out she has liver cancer and doctors, friends, neighbors, and total strangers try to convince her to abort the baby to save her own life. She refuses and makes the children and father promise to love the baby with no regrest. So Tristan is well loved, that is until the mother's unknown step-sister comes to help the family. It is just a couple of years later when the second family tragedy strikes. Tristan is in the front of the jeep when it "accidently" rolls backward over their father killing him. Tristan is made out to be a moster in the press. They present him as the child who killed his mother when she made the choice to give birth to him and the child who has now killed their father. The family splits up. Madison goes and lives with her godparents, Smithy manages to get herself admitted to a boarding school in another state leaving Jack and Tris to live with the aunt who is slowly erasing the memory and existence of their parents. She has shut out all of their family and friends through lies. On the anniversary of their father's birthday the girls feel a need to go back home and so the journey into terror, frustration, a land of forgiveness and lies begins. Jack is told by his best friend and neighbor that his aunt plans on starting on his room and removing his junk. He goes home to rescue the few items he has managed to save of his father's from the day of the accident. Sneaking into the house he overhears his aunt talking to someone. As he listens he finds out she has planned a documentary of that terrible day that will paint Tristan as a monster and show how the children have been traumatized. As always Jack has to protect Tristan. Through a series of twists and turns the children all end up together and discover that their father's accident was not an accident and Tristan was framed. Somehow they have to catch and get rid of the murderer and protect their brother. I think that Cooney held the tension so high in this book that the reader won't be able to put it down and will be afraid of even taking a breath.

The four Fountain children are orphans. They first made headlines when their mother gave her life to save that of her unborn fourth child. The controversy centered on her battle with cancer and her refusal to accept chemotherapy at the risk of harming her unborn child. Overzealous news reporters portrayed baby Tris as his mother's killer. The second time the family hit the headlines was when a tragic accident killed their father. Once again, little Tris was labeled as guilty of killing his remaining parent. Now the media has been called in by their faithful guardian, Aunt Cheryl. She believes that facing their tragic situation in front of television cameras in a docudrama is the only way to help the children deal with the ghosts of their past. In the year since their father's death, young Jack has remained in the family home, helping Aunt Cheryl with the care of almost three-year-old Tris. His sisters, Madison and Smithy, chose to head their separate ways, one to live with godparents and the other to attend boarding school. Now, both girls have realized the importance of family and are returning home to discover startling developments regarding their father's accident. Could it be that the one witness of the horrible event may have lied? Could that witness actually be a murderer, and how can three teens and one toddler prove it? Caroline B. Cooney is known for her mystery and suspense. IF THE WITNESS LIED is one of her best. The tragic family portrait she creates is sure to captivate readers from page one. It is difficult to imagine the pain and suffering these characters have been dealt, and then to throw in a potential evil so cleverly disguised, it becomes a story almost impossible to put down. Once teens get the word on this one, it won't stay on bookshelves long. **TRT Gold Star Award

it was ok

About the author

Caroline B. Cooney is the author of bestselling novels for young people. She lives in Madison, Connecticut, and New York City.