Liar and Spy by Rebecca Stead J Ste

Seventh-grader Georges (the s is silent) is going through a difficult time in his life. He and his parents have had to sell their house and move into an apartment several blocks away. Dad lost his job, and Mom is working double shifts at the hospital to fill in the financial gap. The good thing is that Georges still lives in the same neighborhood so he doesn't have to start over making friends. But maybe that isn't such good news. He's still the target of the class bullies, Carter and Dallas, who call him Gorgeous, and he still has to watch as his former best friend Jason works his way into the circle of the cool kids.
The best part of the move proves to be Safer, a boy the same age who lives upstairs in the apartment building and heads up the Spy Club.
Stead, who won a Newbery Medal for When You Reach Me, has written an entertaining story with believable but quirky characters -- like Safer's older brother Pigeon, and Bob English Who Draws. There's so much going on in the story that I found myself turning page after page to keep moving through the plot and I slid right over some clues that should have prepared me for the ending. Just remember, the book is called Liar and Spy for a reason. But you'll have to read the whole thing to find out why. And read it you should, as Yoda would say.


AR Level 3.8
AR Points 5