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Liar & Spy
Georges, age twelve, has just moved into a new apartment building in New York City. His father has lost his job and his mother is working double shifts at the hospital to try to make up some of the family income. On one of their first days in the new building, Georges’s dad notices a sign posted in the basement for a meeting of a Spy Club, so Georges shows up to see what it’s about. The only two members of the club, he learns, are a boy his age, Safer, and his little sister Candy, both of whom are homeschooled. Safer begins training Georges to be a spy, and they set their sights on one mysterious resident in the building, a man whom Safer calls Mr. X. Before long, Safer is asking Georges to do things that make him uncomfortable, such as going into Mr X’s apartment when he’s not at home. But it turns out that many things aren’t what they seem in Rebecca Stead’s novel, which ultimately reveals the ways two kids deal with their very different, very real fears--in Safer's case fears that keep him from leaving home--by constructing alternate versions of the truth through the stories they share. Does this make Georges an unreliable narrator? Is Safer an unreliable friend? There’s plenty for readers to discuss, including a subplot involving bullies with a feel-good resolution that seems unlikely but welcome, just like dimensions of the stories Georges and Safer shared. ©2012 Cooperative Children's Book Center
CCBC Age Recommendation: Ages 9-12
Age Range:
Grades 3-5 (Ages 8-10)
Grades 6-8 (Ages 11-13)
Format:
Novel
Subjects:
Bullying and Teasing
City Life
Ethical/Moral Choices
Friendship
Mental Health and Illness
Perspective/Point of View
Spies and Intrigue
Surprise Endings
Truth and Lies
Diversity subject:
Psychiatric Disability/Condition
Publishers:
Random House, Wendy Lamb Books
Publish Year: 2012
Pages: 180
ISBN: 9780385737432
CCBC Location: Fiction, Stead