Liar & Spy
Rebecca Stead
When Georges moves into a Brooklyn apartment building, he meets Safer, a twelve-year-old coffee-drinking loner and self-appointed spy. Georges becomes Safer’s first spy club recruit. His assignment? Tracking the mysterious Mr X, who lives in the apartment upstairs.
But as Safer becomes more demanding, Georges starts to wonder: how far is too far to go for your only friend?
Rebecca Stead’s characters are delightfully engaging, and she has woven intricate ideas into a beautiful story. Liar & Spy is an inspired, often-funny novel for middle grade kids about friendship, fears, bullying and how to deal with your worries. It will keep readers guessing until the very end.
Read the Kirkus Reviews interview.
andLiar & Spy
‘In this taut novel, every word, every sentence, has meaning and substance.’
‘It is the true gift of the storyteller to take such age old themes and issues and shine a light on them in such a way that it appears brand new.’
‘Secrets and lies are crafted and planted adeptly…This original story resembles the dots in a pointillist painting, where placement of colours tricks the eye into seeing other colours, and a true picture can be seen only from farther way.’
‘Rebecca Stead does first person so well, emulating the wandering mind of the main protagonist as she deftly weaves a story from his thoughts and interactions….The construction of this story is masterful, the plot pacing and revelations perfect…It is both an affirming story and simply a joy to read.’
‘Wise and wry…a well-written story. Recommended.’
‘Exactly what I would have wanted to read in my early teens. It feels sophisticated and clever and knowing without being too grown-up and dark.’
‘Part coming-of-age tale, part mystery…A charmingly told story that has a message of hope and endurance.’
‘This intelligent novel is a joy to read.’
‘A skillful tale…Despite its light touch, it contains important themes about the truths we tell ourselves.’
‘A wonderfully imaginative story, set in New York, dealing with the games we play, especially with words, their truths and their fictions.’
