[Memorable Middle-grades] Liar & Spy

Liar & Spy, by Rebecca Stead
(Wendy Lamb Books, 2012)

Stead follows up her Newbery win with another intriguing novel in which things aren’t always what they seem. Georges’ family has to move from his Brooklyn home to a nearby apartment, where he meets Safer, a kid his age who runs a Spy Club and is sure that Mr. X, who lives above Georges, is murdering people in his apartment and taking them out of the building in suitcases. Over the span of a few weeks, Georges learns a lot about friends, bullies, spies, and family. Both Safer’s family and his own have their own secrets, and Georges has to redefine reality and friendship by the end of the book. I read this on my Kindle and started it one night and finished it the next. The suspense was not heart-pounding or scary, but I really, really wanted to know what was going to happen. This was an engrossing read with main characters I really liked.

(I read this book on my Kindle with a copy from my local library.)