A Bittersweet Adventure of A Spy Club
Title: Liar & Spy
Author: Rebecca Stead
Publisher: Wendy Lamb Books
Publication Date: Aug 7th 2012
Page Numbers: 180 pages
Blurb
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?
What I Thought
I didn't read When You Reach Me yet, so I won't compared it like most of the reviews of this book.
This is a story about Georges (S is silent) who always mocked because of his name, who always been bullied by Carter and Dallas because of Science Class with The Taste-Test and felt little bit miserable because his parent decided to move to a new apartment which has no fire escape ladder like the previous house.
Then, Georges met Safer, a twelve years old boy, who made him spying on Mr.X, a man who always wearing black suits even in May, who never talked and always brought two suspicious big suitcase. And their weird friendship suddenly began.
***
Yes, this is a book about friendship and how to deal with people around, in seventh grader point of view. And I never thought that being a boy is such that hard. From Georges view also from Safers. But in the end it's a heartwarming story.
I like Safer's family. I like Pigeon, Candy and their Mom (Safer's Dad just showed up once but I think he's kind of an interesting person). Georges's Mom said that it was a bohemian family and I think it's pretty unique. Even Safer didn't go to school, but they learned from their neighborhood (Does it sound interesting? But I doubt it could be work in Indonesia :P). Kids grew up in their ways, and this book teached me something that one day, my children would have their period to grow up. Even though it would be hard, but it for their own good
Opening Line
There's this totally false map of the human tongue. It's supposed to show where we taste different things, like salty on the side of the tongue, sweet in the front, bitter in the back. Some guy drew it a hundred years ago, and people have been forcing kids to memorize it ever since.