Frequent blog readers will know that I often get nervous about books with tons of hype. I worry that I am reading them too late and will not like them because I have heard too many great things about them. I know, big problems I have…

I have been reading about Liar and Spy for ages. Rebecca Stead is the amazing author who wrote the Newbery Medal in 2010 for When You Reach Me. It is not a surprise, therefore, that her next book would receive tons of hype.

And yet again, I don’t know why I was so worried. Liar and Spy deserves all the hype it has received. Stead delivered again. She tells the story of seventh grader Georges who moves from his larger house into a small apartment in NYC after his father looses his job. Stead’s writing is so masterful that while reading it is easy to slip into Georges’ skin and feel all the angst and excitement of middle school.

Perhaps the next time I read a book with tons of hype, I will remember Liar and Spy and not get quite so worried…