Liar Liar

Whether they’re an outsider or find they’re a third wheel, no one likes to feel left out. When Abby learns that her best friends, Robin and Frankie, are going camping together, she can’t wait for her invite and hopes Penny, Robin’s other best friend, isn’t invited, too. Abby is crushed when she finds out she isn’t invited, but neither is Penny. Penny already had fun plans anyway, but Abby doesn’t have any plans…yet.

Abby’s at home feeling sorry for herself when she gets an unexpected visitor, a fairy named Celeste who needs help. Abby and her little brother, Jonah, have gone through a magic mirror in their basement and changed stories before, and Maryrose, the fairy who Abby and Jonah freed from the mirror, knows Abby and Jonah have never hesitated to do the right thing, including helping free Maryrose from the mirror, and they wouldn’t hesitate to help Celeste.

Unlike their other adventures, Abby and Jonah know what story they’re going into: Celeste hopes they can help re-write Pinocchio by getting him to school and keeping him from getting sidetracked thus preventing Geppetto from being swallowed by a whale.

It doesn’t take long for them to convince Pinocchio to go to school like a real boy and prevent him from being sidetracked by the mischievous Mr. Cat and Mr. Fox. With their mission complete, Abby and Jonah head home, and that’s when their adventure really begins. When Jonah opens his backpack, there is more than snacks inside: Pinocchio has snuck through the mirror in Jonah’s snack-filled backpack. After a little panicking and some quick thinking, Abby and Jonah have a plan: hide Pinocchio for the night, and then do what Celeste asked them to; Pinocchio will go to school tomorrow…Abby and Jonah’s school. They won’t learn until they’re at school tomorrow that they have additional visitors: Mr. Cat and Mr. Fox came through the mirror with them, too.

The next day, they let the principal know their cousin, Pinky, is at school with them today. Everyone is excited to meet Cousin Pinky, and only one person senses something isn’t right: Penny can tell Abby’s lying about something because, like Pinocchio’s, Abby’s nose is growing with every lie. When Penny drags Abby off to the bathroom and makes her look in the mirror, Abby is sure Penny will spill the truth. Abby is surprised by how nice Penny is being despite how rude Abby has been to her. Together with Jonah, they make it through the day without anyone else figuring out ‘cousin Pinky’ is Pinocchio, all while keeping the cat and fox from distracting Pinocchio and making excuses for why a cat and a fox, which their gym teacher thinks is a dog, are at school in the first place. Abby, Jonah, and Penny get Pinocchio and the fox back home that night. Together they rescue Gepetto and give Pinocchio the happier ending Celeste asked for, and Penny keeps Mr. Cat, giving him his own happy ending.

Liar Liar, the latest installment of Sarah Mlynowski’s “Whatever After” series, contains important lessons about friendship, trust, and honesty. Abby is hurt that her two best friends are going camping without her and that she now has to share her two best friends with Penny whom she refuses to give a chance even though she’s the only person aside from Abby’s brother Johan’s who knows about the magic mirror and has gone into a story with her. The fact Penny hasn’t told anyone about the mirror isn’t enough to make Abby trust or like her. When Penny alerts Abby to her growing nose, and even believes Abby when she says the fox and cat are talking while others only hear animal sounds, Abby first thinks Penny is going to make fun of her and expose who Cousin Pinky really is. Penny helps Abby figure out how to shrink her growing nose, and she helps Abby and Jonah keep track of Pinocchio who’s loving school so much he doesn’t want to go home. They remind Pinocchio that he can go to school at home, and they figure out his reluctance to attend school has been because he’s worried he won’t have friends. Abby offers him a doll that she loves, one that Pinocchio, at first, had thought was real. With a little magic, Celeste turns the doll into a real friend for Pinocchio.

Readers will find themselves rooting for Abby and Jonah, and even Penny, as they problem-solve together, including realizing a splinter from Pinocchio is to blame for Abby’s growing nose. Liar Liar is filled with suspense, twists, and happy endings for everyone. Readers of will be eager to find out where Abby and Johan, and maybe even Penny, go next!