Book Review: Liar and Spy by Rebecca Stead

Book: Liar and Spy
Author: Rebecca Stead
Published: August 7, 2012
Source: Review copy from publisher via NetGalley

Georges (the s is silent) isn't so sure he's going to like his new apartment. It's much smaller than the house he and his parents had to move out of it, and the neighbors are pretty weird. When he meets Safer, the upstairs neighbor his own age, he gets sucked into the other boy's spy games. At the same time, an upcoming unit in school, a science experiment that all the kids say determines your future, is ramping up the torment from the cool kids.

His mom tells him that he has to look at the big picture, not to let the little details distract him. But life is made up of details. Rules. Games. Who makes the rules to your game?

Having read When You Reach Me, I headed into this knowing that there was going to be a story on the surface, and all sorts of things bubbling and boiling underneath. I wasn't disappointed. Though Georges tells the story in first person, the people in his life seem to have something going on that they aren't talking about, including Georges himself.

It's hard to say too much more without ruining the fun of pulling apart the mysteries in this book, so I'll just reiterate something that Safer says when they first meet. A good spy is a good observer. To get the full effect of this book, you have to keep a sharp eye out, for the things said that don't fit. For the things unsaid and you don't know why. This book will turn you into a spy, too.