Blog #1 Salwah Riaz: One of Us is Lying Pages 1-104

One of Us Is Lying, by Karen M. McManus is a mysterious novel, about five students who are best friends and are caught by their teachers for having cellphones in class even after being prohibited to use them. These five students are Bronwyn, Addy, Nate, Cooper, and Simon. Bronwyn is a smart student who always follows the rules, while Nate is a criminal who is already on probation for dealing. Addy is viewed as homecoming princess and Cooper is an athlete, he is a baseball pitcher. Lastly, Simon is the creator of the school gossip app. All five students are sent to detention by their teacher for having cell phones in their bags during lab, despite Mr. Avery’s strict policy. Although, the students try to explain to their teacher that the phones were placed in their bags, and show him their real cell phones to prove their innocence, they are given detention where they are to write about how Social Media is Ruining Teens. As the five students are in detention afterschool, Simon cant find his water bottle and drinks from the tap water from the back of the classroom. At the same time, there is a car crash in the school parking lot causing all the students to look out the window. By the time they turn back around, Simon is on the floor choking, after taking a sip out of the sink located at the back of the lab. He suffers from an allergic reaction. Simon’s friends along with Mr. Avery, all look for his epipen, as they know that he is allergic to peanuts. There happens  to be no epipen in his bag or the nurses office, and soon the paramedics take him away. A few days later, Simon’s death is revealed to everyone and immediately Simon’s four friends become suspects. After a while, Bronwyn, Cooper, Nathan and Addy are called to the main office and a policeman reveals that Simon ingested Peanut Oil before his death, the policeman also asks them if they have ever had trouble with Simon and his app, because before Simon’s death, there was a post which revealed secrets about each one of his friends.

This portion of the book was very interesting and many events took place. I liked the suspense about this book and it kept me very interested to find out what will occur next. Each character is different and has very unique characteristics as the book progresses. I find this book and its plot to be very interesting. The first few chapters were very slow, describing each characters personality, however throughout each chapter the characters further developed.