Kevin Delecki

Sometimes it’s the smallest thing that can bring about the biggest change in your life. For Georges, it’s a sign in the basement of his new apartment building that simply reads: “Spy Club Meeting—TODAY.” In Liar & Spy, the new book by Rebecca Stead, author of the Newbery Medal-winning When You Reach Me, Georges (the “s” is silent) attends the mysterious Spy Club meeting. It is there that he meets Safer, a 12-year-old eccentric loner and self-proclaimed spy, and his younger sister Candy, who loves to eat (what else) lots and lots of candy. Georges needs a friend, since he has been uprooted from his home as a result of his father’s job loss, and his mom is spending lots of extra time at the hospital where she works. He finds that friend in Safer, who also needs someone in his life.

Safer has decided, after careful observation through the front-door camera in his apartment building, that Mr. X, who lives in a top-floor unit, must be a criminal. After all, he only wears black, he leaves his apartment at strange times and he carries different types of luggage. Georges’ first assignment as a member of the Spy Club is to learn as much as he can about Mr. X. However, as Safer’s missions and demands grow increasingly dangerous (and maybe illegal), Georges must decide how far he will go for his only friend.

Liar & Spy is much more than its short length suggests. It is filled with twists and turns, and will force young readers to examine what they, and those around them, “know” to be true. Georges must make hard decisions, and come to some stark realizations, about friends, families and what truth really is. Like When You Reach Me, Liar & Spy keeps readers in suspense until the very end and will be enjoyed by anyone who loves a good story. And that’s the truth!

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Read an interview with Rebecca Stead for Liar & Spy.

Charlie Collier is smart. Really, really smart. Ask him a question like “How many of each animal did Moses take on the ark?” and he’ll be able to tell you in about five seconds that Moses didn’t take any animals on the ark, it was Noah. But solving problems like this is too easy for Charlie—in fact, it’s become downright boring. Charlie decides he wants to put his thinking skills to the test. So, just like his hero Sam Solomon, Private Eye, star of such thrilling books as The Bouncing Czechs Caper and The Going for Baroque Caper, Charlie decides to become Charlie Collier, Snoop for Hire. In The Homemade Stuffing Caper, the first book in a new series by John Madormo, Charlie teams with his best friend Henry to open his own detective agency—Charlie solves the mysteries, Henry makes sure they get paid.

Charlie and Henry are happy solving the little mysteries around town, making a little money and keeping Charlie’s brain going. His crazy grandmother thinks it’s a great idea as well. So does Eugene, the old man who volunteers at the library and loves Sam Solomon as much as Charlie. But Charlie’s parents don’t think it’s a good idea at all, and they try their best to end Charlie’s career. Even Charlie begins to doubt what he is doing when suddenly, his brain stops giving him all the answers!

Then, everything changes. Scarlett Alexander, the prettiest girl in Charlie’s grade and Charlie’s secret crush, hires him to find her grandfather’s parrot, Socrates. However, this case turns out to be much more than Charlie anticipates—in fact, it becomes a full-blown detective case filled with danger that puts Charlie to the test. The Homemade Stuffing Caper is an exciting mystery, full of jokes and puns, as well as brainteasers and lots of detective work. Charlie is not your usual hero and relies on an excellent supporting cast, including Henry, Scarlett and a few surprises as well. This may be the first mystery you don’t want the detective to solve, because you won’t want it to end!

All criminals be aware: The streets are no longer safe for your nefarious activities, thanks to the kids of the New Cut Gang! Thunderbolt, Benny, Bridie and Sharkey Bob are just some of the kids who make up the New Cut Gang in Philip Pullman’s new novel, Two Crafty Criminals!. Although most of the adults in town would probably not agree, the New Cut Gang see themselves as perfect citizens whose calling in life is to rid the streets of the criminal element, even if they have to break the rules to do it. In this novel, the Gang has to solve two mysteries: Thunderbolt’s Waxwork and The Gas-Fitter’s Ball.

The New Cut Gang first has to solve the mystery of where thousands of counterfeit coins are coming from—coins that are making stores very angry. Thunderbolt is very excited to catch the counterfeiter, until his father is arrested for the crime. It is then up to the New Cut Gang to both catch the real counterfeiter and save Thunderbolt’s dad! In the next story, valuable silver is stolen. With very few clues, only the New Cut Gang can solve the mystery and win a bet by getting the incredibly shy Dick Smith to propose to the beautiful Daisy Miller. After Dick is thrown in jail for the robbery, the New Cut Gang—along with a romantic Strong-Man named Orlando—must free Dick, solve the mystery and get Dick to the Gas-Fitter’s Ball in time to meet Daisy.

Two Crafty Criminals! is very different than Pullman’s His Dark Materials series. Reminiscent of T.D. Fitzgerald’s The Great Brain and Donald Sobol’s Encyclopedia Brown, these children don’t solve mysteries to help other people, but for their own personal (and financial) gain. Full of humor, mystery, bravery and deceit, the New Cut Gang will be the group that every reader will want to join!

Sage has led a rough life. He arrived at an orphanage five years ago with nothing, the son of a failed musician. His only chance for survival comes from his ability and willingness to steal everything he needs to live. All that changes, though, when Conner, a nobleman, arrives at the orphanage and purchases Sage. After attempting to escape, Sage is hauled on to a wagon with three other orphan boys to a camp outside of town. It is there that Sage and the other boys learn that one of them will be chosen to pose as a prince.

Jennifer A. Nielsen, author of Elliot and the Goblin War, weaves a dark and twisted plot in The False Prince, the first book in the Ascendance Trilogy. The King, Queen and Prince of Carthya are dead, though that fact has not yet become common knowledge. Conner is convinced that if he can “find” the missing prince of Carthya, all the noblemen will band together and war will be averted (of course, Conner plans to grab a little of this power for himself). Since the missing prince cannot be located, Conner hatches a plot to find boys who resemble the prince. He then plans to train them, select the best candidate and convince the noblemen that this boy is the missing prince—and now the King of Carthya. However, like most things in life, the plan doesn’t go exactly as intended.

The False Prince is a fast-paced, exciting adventure. There is action, as the boys train with Conner’s assistants, sneak out of their rooms and jockey for position in the most important contest of their lives. There is political intrigue, as Conner considers how to convince the noblemen that he has found the missing prince, and convince the boys to reward him for what he has done. There is even friendship, between Sage and the other boys, as well as with some unexpected characters. Nielsen has written a terrific story that carries readers along to the very (surprising) end and will leave them clamoring for the next book in her trilogy.

It was a typical first day at a new school for Ben Ripley. First, he was dragged out of his house by a James Bond lookalike, and no one was allowed to know where he was going. Then he was shot at as he ran for his life up to the front door. Next, he was met by the most beautiful girl in the world, who saved his life at least twice and sent him to make a call from the emergency radio beacon. Finally, he backed his way into what was certainly a trap, and most likely his sudden death, only to be confronted by the principal of the school, telling Ben he had just scored a D-minus on his first test at Spy School. Wait, that’s not what your first day of school was like?

In Spy School, the new novel by Stuart Gibbs, Ben finds out quickly that this school will be nothing like the boring classes he has taken for most of his life. For example, at the CIA’s top secret Academy of Espionage, classes like Geometry and Social Studies are replaced with Introduction to Self-Preservation and Chemistry 102: Poisons and Explosives. Also, in a regular school, you don’t often find out you were admitted as an unqualified, and extremely expendable, decoy in order to draw out a mole in the operation. Ben really likes the change in coursework; he doesn’t much care for the fact that he was brought there to die!

Spy School pulls together the best of middle grade writing—action, adventure, awkward romance, plot twists and turns, and of course, unrelenting humor. Gibbs does an excellent job of never quite letting you figure out what is going to happen next, and keeping you on your toes. Ben is a perfect bumbling hero—never quite knowing what to do, but somehow getting things done. Perfect for fans of mysteries, humor or Harry Potter (it does take place in a special school for gifted students, after all), Spy School will keep young readers engrossed from cover to cover.

Some books take you on a roller coaster ride—flinging you from one exciting or terrifying event to another, with no room to take a breath. Other books are like a lazy stroll on a fall day—quiet, calm, and measured. The Inquisitor’s Apprentice, the first children’s book by award-winning author Chris Moriarty, uses the best of both approaches. The result is an engaging book that draws you slowly into its creative new world, filled with wonderfully detailed characters, and then suddenly whisks you straight in to the middle of the crime of the century.

Sacha is a young Jewish boy living with his parents and grandparents in the Lower East Side of New York City, around 1900. However, this is not the New York of history books. Magic is a part of every day life, especially in the Jewish community, and it’s the job of the Inquisitors to keep that magic under control. That’s why the family is shocked when Sacha’s hidden talent gets him apprenticed to the most important Inquisitor in New York City, Maximillian Wolf. The other apprentice under Inquisitor Wolf is the rich, spoiled, and snobby Lily Astral. Together, the three must discover who is trying to kill Thomas Edison – the inventor of a machine that can detect magicians. Sacha soon discovers, however, that all of the clues lead back to the Lower East Side, and right back to his family.

The Inquisitor’s Apprentice is unlike any book currently available. Sacha is a Jewish boy, and that affects every part of his life. It also makes him a very deep and strong character, and someone you like and identify with right away. Moriarty creates a world that begs to be explored, filled with characters that have you coming back again and again. Mark Edward Geyer’s illustrations are beautiful, and add even more depth to the story. Part mystery, part fantasy, part coming-of-age story, The Inquisitor’s Apprentice is a book for anyone who has ever thought that maybe there is more to this world than what we can see.

Picture your own perfect day—no homework, lots of good food, video games for hours. Now envision getting to live that day over and over. Sounds great, right? But what if it wasn’t your perfect day that repeated, but your absolute worst? That’s just what happens to Artie Howard. In It’s the First Day of School . . . Forever!, Artie’s first day at a new school begins with a bang, as he falls out of bed and hits his head on the floor—hard. Unfortunately, it only gets worse from there.

Artie stumbles his way through the first day of school, getting sprayed with syrup and splashed by a bus, and even hitting the star football player in the head with a baseball. As the day goes on, things only get worse. Finally, when it seems like nothing else could go wrong, Artie wakes up in his own bed; it must have been only a dream! Then he falls out of bed and hits his head on the floor—hard. His worst first day of school has just begun again.

R.L. Stine, author of the Goosebumps series, brings his unique blend of storytelling, suspense, humor and horror to It’s the First Day of School . . . Forever! Things are never as they seem, and any attempt to change the outcome of the day is met with disastrous results—sometimes funny, sometimes scary, always bad. Artie is stuck with three separate puzzles to solve: Why does he have to keep reliving the first day of school? How can he stop destroying everything he touches, thinks about or even looks at? And when is he going to stop ending up in the creepy basement of the school? Stine’s many fans will not be disappointed in this book, and anyone who likes mysteries, humor or scary books will enjoy it as well.