Hello, I Lied

by M.E. Kerr, Josh Hurley (Reading)

From Margaret A. Edwards, award-winning author of Deliver Us From Evie comes a novel about a gay teenager who discovers a different kind of love during an unforgettable summer in the Hamptons. I’d always think of it as the summer that I loved a girl. Seventeen-year-old Lang Penner and his mother are spending the summer in the caretaker’s cottage at Roundelay, the sprawling East Hampton estate of legendary rocker Ben Nevada. Lang passes the time walking on the beach and hoping for a glimpse of his idol. When they finally meet, Nevada is very different from the man Lang imagined. He finds himself confiding in the retired star about his homosexuality. When Nevada hears Lang’s secret, he figures Lang is a safe bet to show the 17-year-old daughter of some friends from France a good time in the Hamptons. This was supposed to be the summer of Lang’s coming out. He even has a boyfriend, Alex, a 20-year-old actor living in Manhattan. The last thing he expects is to become infatuated with a girl. “Hello,” I Lied is a story about all kinds of love - from friendship to physical attraction to hero worship - as a teenager bravely confronts his sexuality.

Genres: Young Adult, Fiction, LGBT, Queer, Romance, Teen, Novels

MP3 CD

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

M. E. Kerr was born Marijane Meaker in Auburn, New York. Her interest in writing began with her father, who loved to read, and her mother, who loved to tell stories of neighborhood gossip. Unable to find an agent to represent her work, Meaker became her own agent, and wrote articles and books under a series of pseudonyms: Vin Packer, Ann Aldrich, Laura Winston, M.E. Kerr, and Mary James. As M.E. Kerr, Meaker has produced over twenty novels for young adults and won multiple awards, including the Margaret A. Edwards Award for her lifetime contribution to young adult literature.

Reviews

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A likeable young man, a summer at the beach and a memoir of the first time he slept with a woman... No it's not Summer of '42 it's something else.

It's the story of a gay boy (with boyfriend) who has a memorable summer coming out to his friends, spending time with a reclusive former rock legend and finding out that he is capable of being sexually attracted to a young French woman.

This is a book about a young man whose unlikely summer is entirely believable and interesting to read about. In the descriptive blurb for this they mention a young man struggling with his sexuality. That's sort of misleading. Lang is gay, knows he's gay and is slowly telling his friends that he is. What's troubling him, but only a bit, is that being gay is not a black or white thing and he meets a girl that he sometimes finds sexually appealing.

A fast read at 171 pages, the story pulls you in and you meet some interesting characters without anything ever getting too angsty or too melodramatic.

I wish I'd read this immediately after seeing Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist Their sensibilities about the music industry would fit well together.

[Jay · Rating 3 out of 5]

It pains me to give an M.E. Kerr book 3 stars. But, this book fell a little flat. I think, though depicting struggles with adolescent sexuality is both tough and brave, all in all this book seems a little biphobic. Which I'm sure wasn't her intent.

[Lo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Several people seem to have hit on the problem with this book; biphobia. It's hard to give Kerr less than five stars because the prose and the characters are always on point, But this really misses the mark, even though I really liked Lang and Huguette. I guess sometimes Huguetta nothing.

[Georgia Rose · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book tackled the immensely complicated, befuzzling issue of exceptions to sexuality. Wonderfully told, very realistic.

[Bill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Let’s say your are a gay guy with a good relationship with another guy, an actor, working in New York City, and you’re out on Long Island with your mom, who has a summer job working for a retired rock star – someone major – say, a Bob Dylan – but who had retired from the rock world when he was 32 and just wanted his own privacy.

Of course you’re working for him too, as well as working at a restaurant in the city, and when he asks you to show a girl about your age brought up in France by her American aunt and husband – her mom died soon after she was born – and the sights – you at first refuse, then slowly you do.

Before you know it, you’re in love with her too – and confused – are you gay? Or straight?

Spend a few hours with Lang and, his friend Alex, and his new French-American friend – as he tries to figure out his true self – if there is such a thing.

You will never get deeper into a character than you do with M.E. Kerr’s Alex – and perhaps you will remember your own summer loves – or maybe you will look forward to a few summer loves of your own.

[Anna Bowling · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lang Penner liked Brittany...until he liked Alex(ander)...and then there was Huguette. The summer Lang's mother works for reclusive rock star, Ben Nevada, everything changes, in more ways than one. Over the course of the summer, Lang learns a few things about life, love, the truth behind legends, and, most importantly, about himself.

There's a lot that isn't said in this novel: Huguette's true relationship with Nevada, the real reason Nevada stopped performing Lang's own aspirations for the future, and why it's only Lang and his mom, but that all fits with the tone of the story. This is a time of life where there aren't always easy answers, or, sometimes, any answers. Identity, permanence, and change fuel a story about coming of age, and being comfortable in one's own skin, as well as how that level of comfort can be a fluid thing at different points in our lives.

This is my second novel by Kerr, and definitely not my last.

[Fletcher Green · Rating 2 out of 5]

A kid named Lang gets to go on a vacation in the hamptons with a once rock star Ben Nevada he is gay. During this summer he comes out to his friends. He also ponders his relationship with his boyfriend. The reason he is pondering it is because he had relations with a girl. It is an emotional summer that he will never forget. personally I really didn't enjoy this book. It is not the type of book I usually read.

[Erin]

Banned from a Texas middle school for homosexual content

[Manya · Rating 1 out of 5]

Pre shit

[Stembie Dube · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hello, I Lied by M.E Kerr is a story about Lang Penner who goes through a difficult time realizing the complexity of his sexuality in one summer. While this book was a good read in the end, I had a hard time reading about the "gay" stereotyping, social prejudices, and gay confrontation because I grew up not knowing anything about homosexuality. Furthermore, the book provides a realistic main character with showing how he deals with it; which to be was touching and encouraging at the same time. In conclusion, I would recommend this book to anyone who does not understand homosexuality and how it affects individuals.

[Geekfork · Rating 2 out of 5]

It started out interesting, but the writing felt a bit flat to me and I didn't care enough to finish it. The characters, especially Lang, would have been more interesting had there been more insight into their thoughts and feelings. The way the story was written felt more like a "relaying of facts" to me.

[Megan Krauth · Rating 1 out of 5]

I actually really hated this book. It was horribly written. It made me understand how I SHOULDN'T write things. Its choppy, and corny, and very cliche. Don't read it. Just run away and read Looking for Alaska instead. :)

[Michael Earp · Rating 4 out of 5]

[Bella · Rating 3 out of 5]

This could have been so much more! It almost felt like the author was building up for a big reveal and then ran out of pages. It had all the great hallmarks of an ME Kerr book, unique characters, tired and over-it-all-narrator, Long Island, but I felt like it ended before it should have.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 Stars.

[Jezzy]

2 sided and annoying, not recommended.