Liar and Spy by Rebecca Stead

Liar and Spy by Rebecca Stead is the third of Stead's books.  I've read the other two, Light, and the Newbery Medal winner, When You Reach Me.  I enjoyed both, but I think Liar and Spy may have just become my favorite.  Stead does a great job creating a cast of very quirky characters.  They instantly become very real to the reader and you care about their struggles.  The story takes place in Brooklyn, NY and alternates between a school setting and an apartment building.  The main character, Georges, has just moved from the home he grew up in, to an apartment nearby because his father was laid off from his job.  As Georges struggles with the bullies in school, his loner status, and his mother's absence, he is distracted by his funny new neighbor Safer.  They start a Spy Club together and begin to keep an eye on one of the mysterious tenants in the apartment building where they live.

I truly loved the characters in this book and Stead does such a masterful job at creating a story line steeped in mystery, that I hesitate to say much about the plot.  I'll just say that there is mystery, danger, friendship, spies, humor and sadness all rolled together in a great story.  Liar and Spy is one of the 2014 RICBA Award Nominees.  You still have time to read it and see if it would get your vote!

Reviewed by Mrs. Castro