  | Liar & spy Author: Stead, Rebecca | |
| Price: $6.50 | ||
Summary:
Georges adjusts to moving from a house to an apartment & other life changes, including Safer, a boy who wants his help spying on another resident of their building.
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| Accelerated Reader Information: Interest Level: MG Reading Level: 3.80 Points: 5.0 Quiz: 152752 | Reading Counts Information: Interest Level: 6-8 Reading Level: 4.20 Points: 11.0 Quiz: 58364 | |
Common Core Standards
Grade 4 → Reading → RL Literature → 4.RL Key Ideas & Details
Grade 4 → Reading → RL Literature → 4.RL Craft & Structure
Grade 4 → Reading → RL Literature → 4.RL Integration & Knowledge of Ideas
Grade 4 → Reading → RL Literature → Texts Illustrating the Complexity, Quality, & Rang
Grade 5 → Reading → RL Literature → 5.RL Integration & Knowledge of Ideas
Grade 5 → Reading → RL Literature → Texts Illustrating the Complexity, Quality, & Rang
Reviews:
Kirkus Reviews (+) (11/15/12)
School Library Journal (+) (00/09/12)
Booklist (06/01/12)
The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (+) (09/12)
The Hornbook (+) (00/08/12)
Full Text Reviews:
Booklist - 06/01/2012 Stead follows her Newbery Medal winner, When You Reach Me (2009), with another story that deals with reality and perception. Seventh-grader Georges (like Seurat) is living in a new apartment in Brooklyn since the loss of his father’s job necessitated selling their house. His mother still has her job as a nurse, but now she must work double shifts. He goes to the same school, though, which is not necessarily a good thing, because he is relegated to the outsiders’ table. Having a neighbor his age, the loosely homeschooled Safer, offers some new possibilities for Georges, especially since Safer considers himself a spy and is happy to lure Georges into his games. There are two mysteries here: one concerns Georges’ mother, and the other the truth about a shady building tenant, who Safer maintains could be a murderer. Many readers will guess at least part of the truth about the first, despite the sometimes-labored effort put into concealing it. The revelation about the second will be more of a surprise and offers insight into the nature of friendship. Fresh and funny, this will speak to many children trying to find their own way. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: The buzz generated by Stead’s multiaward winner, When You Reach Me, ensures that this will have a built-in audience, and large-scale promotional plans won’t hurt either. - Copyright 2012 Booklist.
Bulletin for the Center... - 09/02/2012 There are many changes in the life of Georges, whose father lost his job and whose family has therefore moved to a new apartment, while his mother works double shifts at the hospital and hardly sees her family. Georges quickly gets to know Safer, a boy who lives upstairs, and finds himself involved, whether he likes it or not, with Safer’s favorite pastime: spying on the rest of the building. At school, Georges is an outsider often bullied by the popular kids, and it looks like the abuse is going to come to a head soon in a legendary science project, whose results are commonly believed to foretell your destiny. Stead, author of the Newbery winner When You Reach Me (BCCB 9/09), remains both a smooth, engaging stylist and a master craftsman, who deftly fits original plot pieces together into a cohesive but often surprising whole. Both Safer and Georges, for instance, are hiding secrets, and the book drops occasional hints that there is more to their stories. That just adds to their appeal as characters, however, which is already considerable; in fact, the book overall is gifted with inimitable personalities, such as Safer’s sweets-mad little sister, Candy, and Georges’ quirky deskmate and gradual friend, Bob English Who Draws. The story also marshals those characters in a couple of glorious and inspiringly creative victories for the underdogs at school, in keeping with its general championing of thinking outside the box. Readers will sympathize with Georges and Safer as they negotiate various familiar obstacles, but it’s the celebration that will leave them exultant. DS - Copyright 2012 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois.
