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Rules for Liars
Funny, fast-paced, and heartfelt, Rules for Liars is about making mistakes, asking for second chances, and discovering the truth is worth telling.
Twelve-year-old Nikki Davis has been lying most of her life, pretending to fit into her friends’ world of designer clothes and country club parties. When her mother loses her job and they move into a rundown apartment, Nikki tries to cover things up with increasingly desperate lies.
Rebecca Weiss has her own problems. Her bat mitzvah is just months away, and she’s totally unprepared. She doesn’t have time for a new person in her life—especially someone who might be deceiving her.
When Nikki and Rebecca’s worlds collide, an unlikely friendship forms. But can a friendship built on secrets and lies survive? And when the truth finally comes out, will Nikki have the courage to make things right? Can Rebecca ever forgive her?
Twelve-year-old Nikki Davis has been lying most of her life, pretending to fit into her friends’ world of designer clothes and country club parties. When her mother loses her job and they move into a rundown apartment, Nikki tries to cover things up with increasingly desperate lies.
Rebecca Weiss has her own problems. Her bat mitzvah is just months away, and she’s totally unprepared. She doesn’t have time for a new person in her life—especially someone who might be deceiving her.
When Nikki and Rebecca’s worlds collide, an unlikely friendship forms. But can a friendship built on secrets and lies survive? And when the truth finally comes out, will Nikki have the courage to make things right? Can Rebecca ever forgive her?
280 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 3, 2026
13 people want to read
About the author
Debra Garfinkle
9 books11 followersI live in Orange County, California. I majored in economics at Brandeis University in Massachusetts and have a law degree from UC Berkeley. I'm the author of five young adult novels, a children's middle grade books, and 21 children's chapter books. My books include STORKY, KAITLYN AND THE COMPETITION, and the following children's series: SILVER PONY RANCH, ZEKE MEEKS, THE FUNNY GIRL, and SUPERNATURAL RUBBER CHICKEN. I write under the names D.L. Green, Debra L. Green, and D.L. Garfinkle.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
December 1, 2025
ARC provided by the April Patten
Rebecca Weiss and Nikki Davis both are dealing with a lot in their lives. Rebecca's mother has passed away, and she lives in an apartment with her father and older brother Noah. She's studying for her bat mitzvah but struggling with every aspect of it, taking solace in her large rescue dog, Meatball. Nikki's mother has lost her job housesitting a Portland Heights Mansion, so the two have had to move closer to her mother's new job at Wonderful World of Waffles. Nikki has never told her friends Saylor and Willow about her family circumstances, but let them assume from her fancy address and her designer hand-me-downs that she was one of their wealthy crowd. When Nikki moves into Rebecca's apartment building, things don't go well. Rebecca hears Nikki yelling about how terrible everything in the neighborhood is, and Meatball introduces him to a terrified Nikki by licking her face! Rebecca had hoped that she might find a friend in her new neighbor, since her former best friend Hailey has decided she'd rather hang out with drama club members, but clearly this is not going to work. Nikki doesn't talk much to her old friends, since she can't afford to let them know her lies, so feels lonely. She has also told cute neighbor Emilio, within Rebeccca's hearing, that her father has passed away. The two find a reason to spend time together after Hailey returns a concert ticket and Rebecca asks Nikki to go with her, and when they both need money. Rebecca wants to fund a better bat mitzvah celebration than her father can afford, in order to impress her crush, Josh, and Nikki needs to repay $300 that she has stolen from the church collection plate and spent on a sweater that can't be returned. The two try dog walking and babysitting, with disastrous results, and finally settle on a lemonade and cookie stand. This brings in some money, but doesn't solve all of the girls' problems. When Rebecca needs help studying the Torah, Nikki thinks she's being helpful in contacting Josh for help, since Rebecca has hinted that Josh is her boyfriend. This doesn't end as badly as it could have... at first. Rebecca is glad of the help, and the girls are finally honest with each other, but Rebecca is devastated that Nikki would lie about her father being dead when he wasn't. Will the two girls be able to solve their personal problems and make amends?
Strengths: Wow. I didn't realize how much more tween lying we need in books until I read this. Being in middle school is hard, and one way to cope is to create a believable fiction about one's circumstances. This isn't discussed much, but is such a powerful idea. Both Rebecca and Nikki are a little embarrassed by their economic situation, and it's fascinating to watch how they handle it. Lack of impulse control at this age leads to so many bad choices, so stealing, lying, and other spur of the moment decisions are completely realistic. Bring in a couple of cute boys, and of COURSE Nikki will make up a story about her father being dead rather than admit that he lives across the country with his new family, and she hasn't seen him since she was young. The other part of this that I really enjoyed was the fact that the girls' parents thought they would be friends right away, when they were clearly different people. It made sense that they eventually became friends, but it was by no means a smooth process. Another unique factor to this story is that both girls are religious. Nikki and her mother travel across town to attend their old church, and eventually find a new church home. This doesn't come up in middle grade fiction as much as it should; I was very invested in my church youth group in middle school. The religious details weren't overwhelming, but were a good part of each girl's life. Friend drama, light romance, money making plans, and themes of personal identity; all of these things combine to make a delicious and unexpected cookie of a book (and there are cookie recipes at the end!).
Weaknesses: I always have trouble believing that any middle school girls know about designer clothes are would wear silk, but it does add an interesting element to Nikki's personality. My biggest complaint is that the recipe for quadruple chocolate decadence cookies is not included. I really want to know how I can get FOUR different kinds of chocolate into a cookie.
What I really think: It's interesting to see Garfinkle (whose young Adult books Storky and Stuck in the 70s I read years ago) and April Henry (whose upper middle grade/young Adult mysteries are super popular in my library) team up to write a solidly middle grade book exploring what it means to be true to oneself and connect with others. I enjoyed this story a lot, and especially appreciated the portrayal of economic struggle from a tween point of view.
Rebecca Weiss and Nikki Davis both are dealing with a lot in their lives. Rebecca's mother has passed away, and she lives in an apartment with her father and older brother Noah. She's studying for her bat mitzvah but struggling with every aspect of it, taking solace in her large rescue dog, Meatball. Nikki's mother has lost her job housesitting a Portland Heights Mansion, so the two have had to move closer to her mother's new job at Wonderful World of Waffles. Nikki has never told her friends Saylor and Willow about her family circumstances, but let them assume from her fancy address and her designer hand-me-downs that she was one of their wealthy crowd. When Nikki moves into Rebecca's apartment building, things don't go well. Rebecca hears Nikki yelling about how terrible everything in the neighborhood is, and Meatball introduces him to a terrified Nikki by licking her face! Rebecca had hoped that she might find a friend in her new neighbor, since her former best friend Hailey has decided she'd rather hang out with drama club members, but clearly this is not going to work. Nikki doesn't talk much to her old friends, since she can't afford to let them know her lies, so feels lonely. She has also told cute neighbor Emilio, within Rebeccca's hearing, that her father has passed away. The two find a reason to spend time together after Hailey returns a concert ticket and Rebecca asks Nikki to go with her, and when they both need money. Rebecca wants to fund a better bat mitzvah celebration than her father can afford, in order to impress her crush, Josh, and Nikki needs to repay $300 that she has stolen from the church collection plate and spent on a sweater that can't be returned. The two try dog walking and babysitting, with disastrous results, and finally settle on a lemonade and cookie stand. This brings in some money, but doesn't solve all of the girls' problems. When Rebecca needs help studying the Torah, Nikki thinks she's being helpful in contacting Josh for help, since Rebecca has hinted that Josh is her boyfriend. This doesn't end as badly as it could have... at first. Rebecca is glad of the help, and the girls are finally honest with each other, but Rebecca is devastated that Nikki would lie about her father being dead when he wasn't. Will the two girls be able to solve their personal problems and make amends?
Strengths: Wow. I didn't realize how much more tween lying we need in books until I read this. Being in middle school is hard, and one way to cope is to create a believable fiction about one's circumstances. This isn't discussed much, but is such a powerful idea. Both Rebecca and Nikki are a little embarrassed by their economic situation, and it's fascinating to watch how they handle it. Lack of impulse control at this age leads to so many bad choices, so stealing, lying, and other spur of the moment decisions are completely realistic. Bring in a couple of cute boys, and of COURSE Nikki will make up a story about her father being dead rather than admit that he lives across the country with his new family, and she hasn't seen him since she was young. The other part of this that I really enjoyed was the fact that the girls' parents thought they would be friends right away, when they were clearly different people. It made sense that they eventually became friends, but it was by no means a smooth process. Another unique factor to this story is that both girls are religious. Nikki and her mother travel across town to attend their old church, and eventually find a new church home. This doesn't come up in middle grade fiction as much as it should; I was very invested in my church youth group in middle school. The religious details weren't overwhelming, but were a good part of each girl's life. Friend drama, light romance, money making plans, and themes of personal identity; all of these things combine to make a delicious and unexpected cookie of a book (and there are cookie recipes at the end!).
Weaknesses: I always have trouble believing that any middle school girls know about designer clothes are would wear silk, but it does add an interesting element to Nikki's personality. My biggest complaint is that the recipe for quadruple chocolate decadence cookies is not included. I really want to know how I can get FOUR different kinds of chocolate into a cookie.
What I really think: It's interesting to see Garfinkle (whose young Adult books Storky and Stuck in the 70s I read years ago) and April Henry (whose upper middle grade/young Adult mysteries are super popular in my library) team up to write a solidly middle grade book exploring what it means to be true to oneself and connect with others. I enjoyed this story a lot, and especially appreciated the portrayal of economic struggle from a tween point of view.
November 9, 2025
Huge thanks to the author and publisher for sending me an ARC!
This was a really sweet book! This is a story about Nikki, a Christian girl who moves into a rundown apartment building, which really doesn’t help her keep up with her story that she is actually exceedingly wealthy in order to keep to rich and shallow friends. She really struggles to keep up with her lies since her mother lost her job, which drives her to steal from her church’s collection plate and use the money to buy an exceedingly expensive sweater on a mall shopping trip with her old friends.
Along with her story, there’s also the story of Rebecca, a Jewish girl who has been living in the rundown apartment building since her mother died, and she is mostly struggling with trying to have a good bat mitzvah.
The two girls don’t have a lot in common, but eventually become friends. Although this way was really sweet, sometimes the packing was a little off, and sometimes the dialogue was a little off, depending on which author was writing, which character. But altogether, I think the themes of forgiveness and finding a life after hardships was really wonderful.
This was a really sweet book! This is a story about Nikki, a Christian girl who moves into a rundown apartment building, which really doesn’t help her keep up with her story that she is actually exceedingly wealthy in order to keep to rich and shallow friends. She really struggles to keep up with her lies since her mother lost her job, which drives her to steal from her church’s collection plate and use the money to buy an exceedingly expensive sweater on a mall shopping trip with her old friends.
Along with her story, there’s also the story of Rebecca, a Jewish girl who has been living in the rundown apartment building since her mother died, and she is mostly struggling with trying to have a good bat mitzvah.
The two girls don’t have a lot in common, but eventually become friends. Although this way was really sweet, sometimes the packing was a little off, and sometimes the dialogue was a little off, depending on which author was writing, which character. But altogether, I think the themes of forgiveness and finding a life after hardships was really wonderful.
November 19, 2025
As a school librarian, I’m always searching for stories that help young readers see the beauty in both their differences and their common ground—and this book does exactly that. It’s a charming, heartfelt tale of two girls from different religious backgrounds who learn to be honest and courageous while also learning what it truly means to become best friends.
The storytelling is warm and inviting, and the author weaves in moments of humor and cultural discovery without ever feeling heavy-handed. I especially appreciate how respectfully the book presents each girl’s traditions, allowing readers to celebrate both identities while recognizing the universal experiences of trust.
Perfect for readers in grades 5–7, this novel is inclusive in all the right ways—welcoming, age-appropriate, and full of gentle wisdom. I can’t wait to recommend it to my students, who I know will see themselves reflected in its pages and perhaps gain a deeper understanding of one another along the way.
The storytelling is warm and inviting, and the author weaves in moments of humor and cultural discovery without ever feeling heavy-handed. I especially appreciate how respectfully the book presents each girl’s traditions, allowing readers to celebrate both identities while recognizing the universal experiences of trust.
Perfect for readers in grades 5–7, this novel is inclusive in all the right ways—welcoming, age-appropriate, and full of gentle wisdom. I can’t wait to recommend it to my students, who I know will see themselves reflected in its pages and perhaps gain a deeper understanding of one another along the way.
Review of advance copy received from Author
First, thank you so much for the wonderful April Henry (AKA April Patten) for sending me an ARC of this book! This book has so many great moments especially in regards to the two girls connecting with both each other and their faiths. It has been great to read this book and see such positive interactions between characters with different religions. This book is filled with many heartfelt moments and relatable emotions girls go through at this age that I can see many girls connecting with this book. The reason it is not 5 stars is because there were times the book felt a little childish and without a lot of action to the plot. I could see this being a harder sell with my 7th graders and up. Overall a great read and I look forward to seeing how my kids react to it!
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
Rules for Liars hit me right in the emotions. Nikki and Rebecca’s story is messy, funny, and painfully real. Watching a friendship form on shaky ground and then get tested was such a reminder of how hard honesty can be when you’re scared of losing everything.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews