Did Junie Blue win the lottery? When she suddenly dumps Oliver after high school graduation and her family will not tell him where she is, Oliver is distraught because he"Lyin' O'Brien-,"and Junie"Sweet Junie Blue Lies"although from different socioeconomic neighborhoods, have shared a special relationship in which they playfully lie to one another. Oliver is afraid for Junie because he has heard that winners are supposed to surrender their tickets to Juan, believed to be a shady business man controlling crime in Junie's less-than-affluent neighborhood. Oliver rescues Junie from an abusive father who works for Juan and persuades her to stay with him in a luxurious hotel room. Junie, however, is fiercely independent and has her own agenda, while Oliver learns that things are not always what they seemespecially when he meets Juan.One strength of this beguiling novel is Lynch's characters and their relationships, including an unconventional artist mother and a sweet-talking father who wants Oliver to join him in his successful financial business. But in a novel that celebrates individuality, Oliver also needs to be free. The text is distinguished by rich language and dialogue in episodes ranging from Junie's delight in their incredible hotel bathroom to a tennis match in which Oliver's friend Malcolm provides information for points. Teens will appreciate the romance and humorous, sophisticated repartee between Oliver and Junie in a plot that will leave them wondering just what is the truth.Hilary Crew.

Gr 10 Up-Oliver and Junie's relationship thrives on lies. Together they are glib, sarcastic, and rarely serious, but they're in love. That is, they used to be, because Junie broke up with Oliver and now she's gone, possibly on the run from the local mob boss, the One Who Knows. Still desperately in love with her, Oliver wants to find and protect Junie, but how can he help someone who doesn't want to be found? This quirky novel from the Printz Honor-winning Lynch is charmingly clever and witty. Being wanted by the mob is not necessarily a light and fun premise for a novel, but Lynch uses this alarming situation to present a story about self-awareness and sacrifice. As a slightly unreliable narrator, Oliver is fine company. Although he is somewhat oblivious to his socioeconomic privilege and emotionally clueless, readers will root for him because of his devotion to saving Junie. She manages to evade him for almost half of the novel, but when they finally meet again, their biggest hurdle turns out not be the mob, but their opposing visions of the future. Lynch's staccato and ironic style is highly readable. Readers who aren't sure what they want to do with their life after high school will find that this book's light and honest approach to figuring it out rings true. Joy Piedmont, LREI, New York City

Oliver, 18, has graduated, but his mind has not moved on from Junie Blue. Too bad, since she's just dumped him for reasons he's only beginning to fathom. Local organized-crime boss One Who Knows (aka "Juan Junose" t it?) claims all winning lottery tickets to keep his cash influx on the up-and-up, and isn't it possible that Junie has scored such a ticket but doesn't feel like sharing? From Inexcusable (2005) to Hothouse (2010) to Kill Switch (2012), the prolific Lynch is a reliable writer, unafraid to venture forth into new genres and tones, though with this odd little ditty, he wanders a bridge too far. The plot is minuscule; what we are to care about are the characters and their constant verbal interplay. Yet each of them exists in an unreal world where everyone trades the same type of minor-key jazz-bop drollness attempt at humor that never quite catches on and instead feels like wandering affectations in search of a conductor. Lynch's rep should draw readers, though they'll find greater satisfaction in previous works.