LoveReading4Kids Says
LoveReading4Kids Says
Shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal 2014 - Winner of the 2013 Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize
Award-winning Rebecca Stead tells a wonderfully touching story with great sensitivity within an exciting and dramatic adventure. Georges (his unusual name is part of his problem) has just moved to a new apartment block and he immediately gets caught up in a game with Safer, a boy who lives on another floor. Safer’s spying game seems fun and his family, sister Candy and brother Pigeon provide an interesting and supportive alternative home for Georges while things in his own family are out of kilter. But then Georges begins to have his doubts… Gradually everything he has been protecting himself from spins out of control and the reader discovers the sad truth he has been hiding himself from. A very special story that is not to be missed.
Julia Eccleshare M.B.E
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About
Liar and Spy Synopsis
When Georges moves into a new apartment block he meets Safer, a twelve-year-old self-appointed spy. Soon Georges has become his spy recruit. His first assignment? To track the mysterious Mr X, who lives in the flat upstairs. But as Safer becomes more demanding, Georges starts to wonder: what is a game and what is a lie? How far is too far to go for your only friend?
About This Edition
| ISBN: |
9781783449606 |
| Publication date: |
2nd April 2020 |
| Author: |
Rebecca Stead |
| Publisher: |
Andersen Press Ltd |
| Format: |
Paperback |
| Pagination: |
240 pages |
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Press Reviews
Rebecca Stead Press Reviews
A joy to read. -- Nicholas Tucker Independent, Best Books of the Year 2012
Rebecca Stead makes writing this well look easy. -- Philip Ardagh, Guardian
A skilful tale ... Despite its light touch, it contains important themes about the truths we tell ourselves. -- Nicolette Jones, Sunday Times
The boys learn from their friendship with each other, and Stead's readers will grow from knowing them, too. -- Daniel Hahn, Independent on Sunday, Best Books of the Year
Exactly what I would have wanted to read in my early teens. It feels sophisticated and clever and knowing without being too grown-up and dark. -- Viv Groskop Observer
Author
About Rebecca Stead
Rebecca Stead is an American author who writes books for children and young adults. She won the 2010 Newbery Medal for the most distinguished contribution to children's literature for her second novel, When You Reach Me.
Stead enjoyed writing as a child, but as she grew older she felt it was 'impractical' and became a lawyer instead. After years as a public defender she returned to writing after the birth of her two children.
On her website she credits her son with inspiring her to write a children's novel, but not in the way one would expect. For years she had collected story ideas and short stories on a laptop, which the child pushed off a table, destroying it and losing all her 'serious' writing. As a way to lighten her mood she began again with something light-hearted. The creation of First Light followed.
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The Guardian children's fiction prize was founded in 1967. It is awarded annually to fiction written for children aged eight and above, and is the only children's fiction award selected by fellow writers.
The judging panel was chaired by our very own reviewer, Julia Eccleshare, who said "Liar & Spy is an incredibly sensitive book. Its central characters are all children who have complexities in their lives which they are dealing with. It's a novel about how children have to navigate the world, and it has an open-handedness which means that readers may be surprised as to where it finishes. It's always interesting in children's fiction to see what's coming from the US, and it's appropriate that this Newbery-winning author be highly regarded in the UK too. It is a quiet book, but although the drama is finely-tuned, the overall impact is powerful, moving and surprising. It was a long and well-argued debate on the essence of what a good children's book is. Individual judges had different views but collectively we thought this novel told the story in the most interesting and original way."
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