Liar and Spy by Rebecca Stead - Revision history

Sue at 08:53, 23 April 2018

2018-04-23T08:53:38Z

Sue at 14:12, 27 January 2015

2015-01-27T14:12:12Z

Sue at 17:42, 18 March 2014

2014-03-18T17:42:36Z

Sue at 11:55, 8 February 2014

2014-02-08T11:55:06Z

Sue at 07:32, 4 February 2014

2014-02-04T07:32:25Z

Sue at 09:56, 17 August 2013

2013-08-17T09:56:49Z

Sue at 06:14, 25 September 2012

2012-09-25T06:14:52Z

Sue at 06:14, 25 September 2012

2012-09-25T06:14:28Z

Sue: Created page with "{{infobox |title=Liar and Spy |author=Rebecca Stead |reviewer=Linda Lawlor |genre=Confident Readers |rating=4.5 |buy=Yes |borrow=Yes |isbn=9781849395076 |paperback= |hardback=..."

2012-09-25T06:11:49Z

Created page with "{{infobox |title=Liar and Spy |author=Rebecca Stead |reviewer=Linda Lawlor |genre=Confident Readers |rating=4.5 |buy=Yes |borrow=Yes |isbn=9781849395076 |paperback= |hardback=..."

New review

{{infobox
|title=Liar and Spy
|author=Rebecca Stead
|reviewer=Linda Lawlor
|genre=Confident Readers
|rating=4.5
|buy=Yes
|borrow=Yes
|isbn=9781849395076
|paperback=
|hardback=1849395071
|audiobook=0449014088
|ebook=B008S9YIJ4
|pages=186
|publisher=Andersen Press
|date=October 2012
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1849395071</amazonuk>
|amazonus=<amazonus>1849395071</amazonus>
|website=www.rebeccasteadbooks.com
|video=
|summary=Georges has a lot to cope with at the moment. Dad's been laid off so they've had to move from their lovely house into a flat, Mum's had to work extra shifts at the hospital, and the cool crowd at school, including his former best friend, are picking on him. Then he finds himself making friends with a most unusual boy.
}}
Georges is named after Seurat, who created his paintings by using thousands and thousands of tiny dots of colour, and in this delightful book his style becomes a leit-motif for Georges' movement from fear to bravery. His mum always tells him not to fret about the little niggles and miseries of life: they're just tiny coloured dots which help to make up the big picture. His dad sees things differently, though. To him, you mustn't turn your back on bad things. They may not seem important when looked at from the future, but they matter right now and shouldn't be ignored. Georges will need a little wisdom from each of his parents to navigate the many challenges he experiences.

This is not the usual 'I'm a loser and everybody hates me' sort of story, in which life is an unmitigated disaster for the whiny young protagonist (and in which, frankly, you sometimes find yourself sympathising with his enemies). Georges is a bright, endearing boy with an enquiring mind and a willingness to accept a certain amount of absurdity in his life. He is fairly shy at school but relates well to adults, and despite the essential weirdness of Safer, the leader of the Spy Club, he is quite willing to make friends. He is also, just as importantly, strong enough to say no when things go too far.

This is a book about lying, about a world where few things are what they seem to be on the surface. And it's also about courage—various people find, during the course of this book, that they have no choice but to face their fears. There is spying—quite a lot of it, in fact—but few life-threatening escapades or mortal danger. This is not spying as Anthony Horowitz or Andrew Hammond might portray it: the book has a lighter, more muted tone, where the everyday is important but not heart-stoppingly scary or even melodramatic.

The story is seen from the point of view of Georges, but several other characters have quite large parts to play. And for once, in a book for young people, they're not all the same age as the protagonist. Georges loves both his parents very much, and is clearly loved by them; the PE teacher Ms Warner and the Bennie the Egyptian shop owner add humour and warmth to the story, and sweet-toothed Candy, aka Safer's younger sister, is a strong, sturdy and likeable character in her own right.

It can't be easy to write the book after the one that won a prize ([[When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead|When You Reach Me]] was awarded the Newbery Medal in 2010), not least because so many people, in their heart of hearts, want you to write the same book again. Several reviewers have criticised this book for not being as 'magical', when in fact it is successful in its own right precisely because it is the opposite. Safer is odd but realistically presented, and much of his strangeness is explained by the end of the book. Georges deals with the bullies at school, but in a way which could easily be adopted by his readers. And the one real mystery which runs through the whole book (as opposed to the handsaw-wielding murderer who may or may not live on the fourth floor) has a very real, very believable solution. This book does not rely on the supernatural: it adds a little magic to the ordinary and the commonplace.

Another book which manages to show deep feelings without mawkishness and which has a protagonist who loves her family is the charming [[Flyaway by Lucy Christopher]].

{{amazontext|amazon=1849395071}} {{waterstonestext|waterstones=8932747}}
{{commenthead}}

← Older revision		Revision as of 14:12, 27 January 2015
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-'''Longlisted for the 2014 CILIP Carnegie Medal'''
+'''Shortlisted for the 2014 CILIP Carnegie Medal'''
 Georges is named after Seurat, who created his paintings by using thousands and thousands of tiny dots of colour, and in this delightful book his style becomes a leit-motif for Georges' movement from fear to bravery. His mum always tells him not to fret about the little niggles and miseries of life: they're just tiny coloured dots which help to make up the big picture. His dad sees things differently, though. To him, you mustn't turn your back on bad things. They may not seem important when looked at from the future, but they matter right now and shouldn't be ignored. Georges will need a little wisdom from each of his parents to navigate the many challenges he experiences.

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 |amazonuk=<amazonuk>184939542X</amazonuk>
 |amazonus=<amazonus>B008S9YIJ4</amazonus>
-|website=www.rebeccasteadbooks.com
+|website=http://www.rebeccasteadbooks.com
 |video=
 |summary=Georges has a lot to cope with at the moment. Dad's been laid off so they've had to move from their lovely house into a flat, Mum's had to work extra shifts at the hospital, and the cool crowd at school, including his former best friend, are picking on him. Then he finds himself making friends with a most unusual boy.
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 {{amazontext|amazon=184939542X}}
 {{commenthead}}

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-{{infobox
+{{infobox1
 |title=Liar and Spy
 |author=Rebecca Stead
@@ Line 11: / Line 11: @@
 |publisher=Andersen Press
 |date=October 2012
 |website=http://www.rebeccasteadbooks.com
 |summary=Georges has a lot to cope with at the moment. Dad's been laid off so they've had to move from their lovely house into a flat, Mum's had to work extra shifts at the hospital, and the cool crowd at school, including his former best friend, are picking on him. Then he finds himself making friends with a most unusual boy.
 }}

@@ Line 8: / Line 8: @@
 |borrow=Yes
 |isbn=9781849395076
 |pages=186
 |publisher=Andersen Press
 |date=October 2012
-|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1849395071</amazonuk>
+|amazonuk=<amazonuk>184939542X</amazonuk>
 |amazonus=<amazonus>B008S9YIJ4</amazonus>
 |website=www.rebeccasteadbooks.com
@@ Line 33: / Line 29: @@
 Another book which manages to show deep feelings without mawkishness and which has a protagonist who loves her family is the charming [[Flyaway by Lucy Christopher]].
-{{amazontext|amazon=1849395071}} {{waterstonestext|waterstones=8932747}}
+{{amazontext|amazon=184939542X}}
 {{commenthead}}

@@ Line 25: / Line 25: @@
 This is not the usual 'I'm a loser and everybody hates me' sort of story, in which life is an unmitigated disaster for the whiny young protagonist (and in which, frankly, you sometimes find yourself sympathising with his enemies).  Georges is a bright, endearing boy with an enquiring mind and a willingness to accept a certain amount of absurdity in his life. He is fairly shy at school but relates well to adults, and despite the essential weirdness of Safer, the leader of the Spy Club, he is quite willing to make friends. He is also, just as importantly, strong enough to say no when things go too far.
-This is a book about lying, about a world where few things are what they seem to be on the surface. And it's also about courage—various people find, during the course of this book, that they have no choice but to face their fears. There is spying—quite a lot of it, in fact—but few life-threatening escapades or mortal danger. This is not spying as Anthony Horowitz or Andrew Hammond might portray it: the book has a lighter, more muted tone, where the everyday is important but not heart-stoppingly scary or even melodramatic.
+This is a book about lying, about a world where few things are what they seem to be on the surface. And it's also about courage — various people find, during the course of this book, that they have no choice but to face their fears. There is spying — quite a lot of it, in fac t— but few life-threatening escapades or mortal danger. This is not spying as Anthony Horowitz or Andrew Hammond might portray it: the book has a lighter, more muted tone, where the everyday is important but not heart-stoppingly scary or even melodramatic.
 The story is seen from the point of view of Georges, but several other characters have quite large parts to play. And for once, in a book for young people, they're not all the same age as the protagonist. Georges loves both his parents very much, and is clearly loved by them; the PE teacher Ms Warner and the Bennie the Egyptian shop owner add humour and warmth to the story, and sweet-toothed Candy, aka Safer's younger sister, is a strong, sturdy and likeable character in her own right.