What was it George Washington is supposed to have said, "I cannot tell a lie?" Well, Kevin Spencer could have instructed the fine first president on the importance of, the value of and the knack for telling great lies. At the ripe old age of somewhere in middle school, Kevin has figured out that a lie well-told in a timely manner makes the world go round.
He gets through school, dinner and friendship by telling those little white lies that grease the moment. And it's been working for him really well, until as he puts it on page three, "my life went from zero to crap in a week." Yep, the c-word.
Now this book starts out like Andrew Clements on steroids. Kevin is being partnered...yes the dreaded partner for a school project-with Katie, she of the robotic brain and over achieving personality. But, a small lie about having a big disease seems to get Kevin out of it...she'll do all the work out of sympathy and Kevin will do the proofreading. Case closed.
But, as we turn the page and Kevin turns a corner into a hallway at school, the suddenly Kevin-magnet girl named Tina appears at the water fountain. How could he not have noticed all these years since pre-school, just how hot she is?
Kevin spends the remainder of the book weaving the proverbial web of deceit all in the name of capturing the attention and love of the fair Tina. Well, he wanders off the path a little with his brother, his sister, his parents, his Aunt Buzz, a handful of teachers and coaches and certainly the project partner, Katy. We've waded in over our heads here as has Kevin.
How is he going to untangle this mess? Will he have a shred of trust or respect left when this all explodes in his face as we know full well that it will? A strange turn of events for a book that begins like a rocket from comedy heaven.
128 pages 978-0385740012 Ages 9-11
Keywords: humor, lying, school project, girls, family, values, 9 year old, 10 year old, 11 year old, 12 year old
*************
Kevin has a big talent. Some might call it compulsive lying. He calls it common sense.
Kev doesn’t mean to cause trouble by lying all the time; he’s just trying to make everything easier for everyone (and himself). And, of course, a few harmless, um, falsehoods are crucial to his plan to convince Tina that he’s the perfect boyfriend for her. In Gary Paulsen’s irresistible and chaotic comedy, Kevin’s lies spiral out of control until he’s faced with the need to do the unthinkable: tell the truth.---from the publisher
