“My father is a liar and so am I” are the words that author, Justine Larbalestier, uses to lure readers into her captivating book, Liar (3). The author weaves a suspenseful tale about teenager, Micah Wilkins, who seeks to find her boyfriend’s murder. She also artfully places fragments of doubt and lies that keep the reader in suspense through the length of the book. According to Essentials of Young Adult Literature, Larbalerstier’s book is categorized as a Supernatural Fantasy (Short, Tomlinson, Lynch-Brown, and Johnson 79). After reading and analyzing the characteristics of Larbalestier’s book, I would classify Liar as a fantasy that is elevated by the author’s implications of realism and science fiction. The author uses hints of situational
…show more content…
First of all, Larbalestier composes a story that includes situational, emotional, and contemporary realism centered around the death of her boyfriend. In the story, we are introduced to the main character, Micah Wilkins. She lives in New York (21), attends high school (9), and lives with her parents and younger brother, Jordan, (Larbalestier 20, 21) implying a story reflecting situational realism. As the story progresses, we find out that Micah’s life includes elements of contemporary realism as she struggles to fit in. In class her teacher calls her “Mr. Micah Wilkins” (7), and Micah recalls how she has been “mistaken for a boy before” (Larbalestier 7). Additionally, she is teased and called a “freak” (23), rumored to be a “hermaphrodite” (31), and then she reflects on “[h]ow awful it was at school, at home, [her] family history, and [her] illness.” (Larbalestier 131). Finally, we see Micah’s predictably emotional reaction to the death of her boyfriend, Zach, as she experiences a “broken heart” (26),“mourns” (80), and feels as though “Without Zach I’m nothing (Larbalestier 151). Using this clever tactic, Justine Larbalestier gives the book a semblance of being realistic fiction, until noticeably shifting to supernatural fantasy at the beginning of part …show more content…
Though there were hints at this possibility throughout the first part of the book, the author finds scientifically plausible ways to explain them. Micah discusses having to take the birth control pill (61-62), due to the “family illness” that she inherited (Larbalestier 85). Taking the pill includes dealt with “acne and excessive blood” (85), but also with the “tainted hairy gene” that is a part of her “family disease” (Larbalestier 86). This could be explained by a well known symptoms associated with “[h]ypertrichosis, also known as the werewolf syndrome” (Rol, “Hypertrichosis" (Wereworlf Syndrome)). However, once Micah’s secret is directly revealed, the book transitions into a supernatural mystery. Micah discusses the process of “[s]tart[ing] human” and “end[ing] wolf”(173), then admits that even though it seems like she killed Zach, “that [she] didn’t” and “[t]hat was a different werewolf” (Larbalestier 172). Readers are then taken “beyond reality” (Short, Tomlinson, Lynch-Brown, and Johnson 70) as Micah describes how she is part of a “werewolf family” (Larbalestier 177). Not only is her great-uncle Hilliard a werewolf (179), but other family members liker her cousins are as well (Larbalestier 181). Then she outlines the process of changing into a werewolf that occurs with menstruation as being accompanied by “liquid muscles, moving bones, pain in
First of all, Larbalestier composes a story that includes situational, emotional, and contemporary realism centered around the death of her boyfriend. In the story, we are introduced to the main character, Micah Wilkins. She lives in New York (21), attends high school (9), and lives with her parents and younger brother, Jordan, (Larbalestier 20, 21) implying a story reflecting situational realism. As the story progresses, we find out that Micah’s life includes elements of contemporary realism as she struggles to fit in. In class her teacher calls her “Mr. Micah Wilkins” (7), and Micah recalls how she has been “mistaken for a boy before” (Larbalestier 7). Additionally, she is teased and called a “freak” (23), rumored to be a “hermaphrodite” (31), and then she reflects on “[h]ow awful it was at school, at home, [her] family history, and [her] illness.” (Larbalestier 131). Finally, we see Micah’s predictably emotional reaction to the death of her boyfriend, Zach, as she experiences a “broken heart” (26),“mourns” (80), and feels as though “Without Zach I’m nothing (Larbalestier 151). Using this clever tactic, Justine Larbalestier gives the book a semblance of being realistic fiction, until noticeably shifting to supernatural fantasy at the beginning of part …show more content…
Though there were hints at this possibility throughout the first part of the book, the author finds scientifically plausible ways to explain them. Micah discusses having to take the birth control pill (61-62), due to the “family illness” that she inherited (Larbalestier 85). Taking the pill includes dealt with “acne and excessive blood” (85), but also with the “tainted hairy gene” that is a part of her “family disease” (Larbalestier 86). This could be explained by a well known symptoms associated with “[h]ypertrichosis, also known as the werewolf syndrome” (Rol, “Hypertrichosis" (Wereworlf Syndrome)). However, once Micah’s secret is directly revealed, the book transitions into a supernatural mystery. Micah discusses the process of “[s]tart[ing] human” and “end[ing] wolf”(173), then admits that even though it seems like she killed Zach, “that [she] didn’t” and “[t]hat was a different werewolf” (Larbalestier 172). Readers are then taken “beyond reality” (Short, Tomlinson, Lynch-Brown, and Johnson 70) as Micah describes how she is part of a “werewolf family” (Larbalestier 177). Not only is her great-uncle Hilliard a werewolf (179), but other family members liker her cousins are as well (Larbalestier 181). Then she outlines the process of changing into a werewolf that occurs with menstruation as being accompanied by “liquid muscles, moving bones, pain in