Rebecca Stead follows up her Newbery Medal winner with another good book

Liar & Spy by Rebecca Stead is the latest book by the Newbery author of When You Reach Me.  Liar and Spy is another great fiction novel that incorporates the properties of a mystery with the relationship dilemmas that kids deal with every day.  I remember reading When You Reach Me and reacting in shock at the climax of the story.  Liar & Spy, though not as dramatic, has an interesting twist to it's climax that may catch many readers off guard.




Due to a family crisis that tends to force many loving families form the home they enjoy, seventh grader, Georges (the S is silent),  is thrust into apartment living. The reader is introduced to a cast of home schooled characters whose names, Pigeon, Safer, and Candy are indicative of the behaviors they portray.  Throw in the suspected murderer, Mr. X, on the fourth floor, and our boys, Safer and Georges, are on an adventure that with test their faith in friendship. The story is told through Georges's perspective as he deals with the oddities of his new friends, the bullies that torment him at school, and dealing with his new family living situation.

I really enjoyed reading Liar and Spy.  Rebecca Stead has stirred my interest in her writing style and I am very interested in reading her next book, First Light (Check out this cool website). This book seems to carry a different kind of mystery revolving around a little fictional Greenland mythology. My prediction is the book will have a strong environmental message similar to the Native American messages about our wasteful lifestyles and pollution damaging mother earth.

As I look up this new book I'm thinking, wouldn't it be interesting to meet an author of the books we love to read.  I wonder how hard it is to invite an author to our classroom.  Maybe technology can make that happen.  Perhaps we'll see.