Monday, September 3, 2012

Liar & Spy by Rebecca Stead

From the Publisher:
When seventh grader Georges (the S is silent) moves into a Brooklyn apartment building, he meets Safer, a twelve-year-old coffee-drinking loner and self-appointed spy.  Georges becomes Safer's first spy recruit.  His assignment?  Tracking the mysterious Mr. X, who lives in the apartment upstairs.  But as Safer becomes more demanding, Georges starts to wonder: how far is too far to go for your only friend?

My Thoughts:
When I was a kid growing up in Brooklyn (Flatbush, as a matter of fact) my best friend and I became fascinated with a lady that lived in the building next to ours.  We would sit on the stoop, endlessly speculating about the incredibly exciting life we had convinced ourselves that she led.  After all, she was a singer, always wore lots of perfectly applied makeup, even to walk her dog, and to us that meant a glamorous life.  We kept up our speculations for about five days, but it turned out that things were not what they seemed (her life may actually have been duller than ours) and then the allure of games and friends proved to be more fun.  I hadn't thought about that summer in years, until I read Rebecca Stead's new novel Liar & Spy.

Something about Georges and Safer and their spying adventure reminded me of our youthful selves.

Well, almost.  Things aren't going well for Georges.   His dad has lost his job, his mother, a nurse, is working more hours than ever to make up for it, and they have just moved from the house to an apartment.  At school, his best friend has abandoned Georges for some much cooler kids and he is being bullied by some boys who have nicknamed him Gorgeous.  Homeschooled Safer looks like a pretty good bet as a friend at this point, except that he doesn't ever leave the building.   And Georges never sees his mother because she is always at the hospital, but they do communicate by leaving messages for each other using Scrabble tiles.

It all seems so straightforward, not good, but straightforward.  But one must remember that at the heart of this novel is a 19th century Impressionistic painting by Georges Seurat and as his namesake explains "What you can't tell from our poster is that the picture is painted entirely with dots.  Tiny little dots.  Close up, they just look like blobs of paint.  But, if you stand back, you see that they make this whole nice park scene, with people walking around in old fashioned clothes.  There's even a monkey on a leash." (pg11)

And that is the whole point of the novel - that sometimes things are not what they seem to be until you look at the big picture.

I have to admit I was a little disappointed with Liar & Spy when I first finished it, especially when I thought about how great Stead's Newbury winner When You Reach Me was.  But then, the story started to worm it way into my thoughts and the more that happened the more I began to really appreciate the incredibly clever way the story is woven together, each part adding to the whole picture and the wonderful subtleties of Stead's writing.

And it is all peopled with characters that are unique, full bodied and perfectly suited to Liar & Spy.  Even the not-frequently-appearing bullys are drawn so well that you can really feel the bullying.  And Safer's smart, sassy, sweet-loving little sister Candy is just the right humorous touch to make the spying not spill over into creepy.

One small piece of advice: there are lots of little hints in this novel to enable the reader to begin to form a big picture.

This is a book not to be missed and I wonder if enough time has passed since Stead's 2010 Newbury award so that it can be a Newbury contender this year.

My only objection to Liar & Spy as far as the middle grade reader it is aimed at is that there is no picture of the Seurat to use as a point of reference, since it plays such a big part and maybe not many kids would bother to go look it up.  So here it is for anyone who wants to know what it looks like:

Sunday Afternoon on the Island of Grand Jatte - Georges Seurat

This book is recommended for ages 9+
This book was received as an E-ARC from Net Galley

NB. This isn't the first time Seurat's painting served as inspiration.  The musical Sunday in the Park with George, music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, was based on the book by James Lapine.  It won the 1985 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, among other awards.  

13 comments:

  1. What a good idea to add that painting to your review, Alex. Lovely new blog :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, M. I thought the picture would be helpful, too. Glad you like the blog.

      Delete
  2. Great review! I loved reading your childhood remembrance that the book inspired.
    I just got this book in my latest batch from Amazon, and I'm looking forward to reading it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Megan. This was a pretty interesting book, so I hope you do enjoy it. I have to admit, I debated about including my childhood remembrance, but decided to go ahead anyway. I am glad I did.

      Delete
  3. Thanks for sending us to your new blog. I too liked that you remembered a 'spying' episode in your own childhood because of this book. When kids have time, they make up things, don't they? And they certainly did in this story. I liked it, and didn't see all that was coming for quite a while. I can't wait to talk to a student about it. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I know exactly what you mean about kids making up things. I know I did when I was a kid and could see it in my daughter and my students. Like you, I didn't see some of what was coming for a while either in this book. I think that is one of Stead's strong points in her writing.

      Delete
  4. Haven't read this but, even so, I'm sure I'd agree about the painting not being included in the book. I'd really want it to be there.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Joyce, thanks for stopping by. Yes, I always think that anything that enhanced our understanding and appreciation of a book is worth including or at least give information on where to find out more. Nevertheless, Liar & Spy is good and I hope you give it a whirl.

      Delete
  5. This sounds like an interesting read and I love that you included a picture of the painting. I think it would be helpful for most middle graders to see it. Also- I am glad to hear the book grew on you more after you were done. I love when I can't stop thinking about a book after I am done. Great review!
    ~Jess

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Jess, glad to see you here and thanks.. I thought while reading this that it could be a wonderful lession in art and literature, showing the relevance of the painting while introducing impressionistic art and how each dot helps make the big picture. I'm not teaching but still make up lesson plans in my head.

      Delete
  6. Thanks for including the painting, Alex. The book sounds good and I especially like how it reminded you of your childhood experience. It was at the line 'a coffee-drinking loner' that got me chuckling. I'd love to read about Safer.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi Claudine, this is a good book and by the way, I am still friends with my partner in crime. Safer is quite a character, and quite a coffee drinker. I hope you enjoy this book as much as I did.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I like it when I finish a story thinking it was OK, but then it starts working on me. Those are always the most memorable books.

    ReplyDelete

 
Imagination Designs