An instant New York Times bestseller ,   Liar & Spy is a story about games and friendship. Seventh-grader Georges moves into a Brooklyn apartment building and meets Safer, a twelve-year-old 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?  Like Stead's dazzling Newbery-winner  When You Reach Me , Liar & Spy will keep readers guessing until the end.       * A New York Times bestseller    * A  New York Times Book Review  Notable Children's Book of 2012    *  Kirkus Reviews Best of Children's Books 2012 List    *  Publishers Weekly Best of Children's Fiction 2012    *  School Library Journal Best of Children's Fiction 2012 List    *  The Horn Book 's Best of 2012 List   *  The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books  2012 Blue Ribbons List    * Barnes & Noble Best Books of 2012 for Kids List     * NPR Outstanding "Backseat" Reads for Ages 9-14, NPR's Backseat Book Club   * Amazon's Top 5 "Best of the Year" (Middle Grade Books)    * The  Wall Street Journal 's Best Children's Books of 2012    * The Chicago Public Library Best of the Best 2012    * A Junior Library Guild Selection Gr 5-8-Georges's life is turned upside down when his father loses his job, forcing his mother to take on extra nursing shifts and prompting the family to move from their house into an unfamiliar Brooklyn apartment. At school, Georges is a bit of an outcast, having been abandoned by his one and only friend and often the subject of bullies' taunts. Then he sees a sign advertising a Spy Club and meets Safer, a homeschooled loner who lives in his building, and Safer's warm, welcoming, and quirky family offers him respite from the stress at home. Together the boys track a mysterious building resident who Safer is sure is hiding a sinister secret. As the investigation progresses, Georges grows increasingly uncomfortable with Safer's actions. Stead has written a lovely, quiet, and layered novel that explores friendship in all its facets. She particularly examines truths, secrets, deceptions, and imagination and whether these can destroy or ultimately strengthen a friendship. The ending twists readers' entire perception of the events and creates a brilliant conclusion to an insightful novel.-Naphtali L. Faris, Missouri State Library, Jefferson Cityα(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. -School Library Journal Best of Children's Books 2012 -Publishers Weekly Best of Children's Books 2012 -Kirkus Reviews Best of Children's Books 2012 -The Wall Street Journals Best Children’s Books of 2012 -The Chicago Public Library Best of the Best 2012 -The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books 2012 Blue Ribbons List -One of The Atlantic Wire’s 25 favorite middle grade and young adult book covers of 2012 -The Horn Book’s Best of 2012 List -Amazon’s Best of the Year, Middle Grade (#3) -A New York Times Book Review Notable Children’s Book of 2012 Starred Review, The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, September 2012: “Readers will sympathize with Georges and Safer as they negotiate various familiar obstacles, but it’s the celebration that will leave them exultant.” Starred Review, School Library Journal, September 2012: “The ending twists readers’ entire perception of the events and creates a brilliant conclusion to an insightful novel.” Starred Review, The Horn Book, September/October, 2012: “Stead’s spare and elegant prose, compassionate insight into the lives of young people, wry sense of humor, deft plotting, and ability to present complex ideas in an accessible and intriguing way make this much more than a mystery with a twist.” Starred Review, Publishers Weekly, June 11, 2012: “Chock-full of fascinating characters and intelligent questions, this is as close to perfect as middle-grade novels come.” Starred Review, Kirkus Reviews, June 1, 2012: “[A] big-hearted, delightfully quirky tale…. Georges resolves his various issues in a way that’s both ingenious and organic to the story….Original and winning” REBECCA STEAD is the author of When You Reach Me, which was a New York Times bestseller and winner of the Newbery Medal and the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award for Fiction, and Liar & Spy, which was also a New York Times bestseller, won the Guardian Prize for Children’s Fiction, and was on multiple state master lists and best of the year lists. Her most recent book, Goodbye Stranger, was a Boston Globe–Horn Book Honor Book for Fiction and a New York Times bestseller. She is also the author of First Light, which was nominated for many state awards. She lives in New York City with her family. Visit her online at rebeccasteadbooks.com. The Science Unit of Destiny There's this totally false map