Liar and Spy

So Rebecca Stead is definitely my favorite juvenile author, or at least she would be if she had more books published. I might like Liar and Spy more than When You Reach Me, her Newbery winner. While with her previous book she played with the time travel genre and showed her inspiration from Madeleine L'Engle, in this she experiments with mystery and seems inspired by the complex yes simple emotional mysteries of E.L. Konigsburg (whose recent death saddened me and all children's book lovers).
Georges is dealing with various negative changes in his life, like a friend who has abandoned him, moving, and a mother working constantly due to his father's job loss. His new and only friend is a homeschooled oddball in the same apartment building named Safer, who insists that one of their building's residents is a criminal. He begins to investigate as Safer's assistant, dealing with his MIA mother and teasing at school. While less involved and mysterious than When You Reach Me, Liar and Spy is more emotionally true. Readers will wonder about Safer mystery, and after they read, who is the liar, and who is the spy.