This is a truly wonderful book, in a gorgeous setting with intrigue, adventure and a cast of colourful characters. I got totally sucked into the story and I'm a full-grown adult, so I know kids will absolutely love it.

The author brings to life the street markets, child spies and gangsters with humour and magic.

I would love to read a sequel about what Lizard and friends do next!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me access an advance digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Espionage and Gripping Adventure

This tale is set in pre-war Singapore. The setting is exotic and the atmosphere is tense and threatening. Spies everywhere and no one to trust.

Our hero is a streetwise urchin who dabbles in a little low grade theft and burglary on the side. All is well until he burgles the wrong box full of secrets. A girl spy, a missing Uncle, a feisty English girl, other street friends, locals of indeterminate allegiance - it makes for quite a mix of color, adventure, and threat.

The atmosphere is convincing. (I've had a Singapore Sling at the Raffles Hotel bar, and it was nice to return.) The hero is appealing. The writing is crisp and direct. Dialogue is sharp and to the point. Secondary characters have some weight and presence. The pacing is fast and, like Lizard, the book is clever and light on its feet. There are moments of tenderness and insight, which elevates this beyond just an actioner. There is enough authenticity, both in terms of character and place, to make this an appealing drama above and beyond the usual spy thriller sort.

This is a sneaky sort of book, but it will charm and entice you until you're hooked on the adventure, which is a great thing to be able to say about a middle grade thriller. A nice find.

(Please note that I received a free ecopy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)

Fun and exciting but not for me, I struggled to invest myself in this Middle Grade story. Great for young readers!

DNF- read only up to 20%, this was just not for me. Nothing wrong with the story or writing, just not my taste

Lizard is the name of a young boy who is half Chinese and half British. His uncle Archie suddenly vanishes. Lizards finds that he has to fend for himself in the streets of Singapore. He does things to get by like writing letters for people who cannot do it themselves and stealing. As it would happen, he steals from the wrong person. His friend Lili is in training to be a spy. She is able to help Lizard.

Weng Wai Chan writes delightfully. The Raffles Hotel in Singapore comes to life. Lizard's Tale is a historical fiction adventure. It takes place in Singapore in 1940 and features secret agents from both the British and Japanese sides.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I would recommend it to anyone, but especially a younger person who is interested in history, spies, or Asia. Thank you to NetGalley for the free gifted copy in return for an honest review.

4.5 stars, rounded to 5

Time to review another great middle grade story – this one’s called Lizard’s Tale and it’s vibrant and unforgettable. Even though at first, it was a bit hard to get into it (because life was so hard for the characters!) and I had put the book on hold, after I sat down with it another time, I could not peel myself away from the page and finished it within one evening. It’s such a page-turner – full of action, colorful, emotional, and with lovely characters. Spies! Butt-kicking urchins! Secret service ladies! It was amazing.

It's About...

A mixed-race boy in Singapore’s Chinatown nicknamed Lizard is stuck between a rock and a hard place. Life is tough, especially when you’re an orphan and don’t really belong anywhere, but it’s even tougher if you’re mixed race, because nobody’s really willing to accept you anywhere either. Lizard hates stealing, but life on the street makes him do it – there’s just no other way to make ends meet, when you have no adults in your life. So he thinks he’ll do one last gig for big money and then he can stop it for good. But does it ever really work out that way?

So after doing the deed, Lizard finds himself in a bigger mess than he expected to. Suddenly it’s not just a trinket that he’s stolen anymore, it’s something people get killed over. So he knows he’s got to return it. But again, does it ever really work out that way?

For fear of giving away too many awesome adventures, I’ll just say that there’s loads of stuff going on, and it involves danger, teenage spies, as well as are wartime secrets – and so much is at stake – personally for Lizard, as well as on a bigger scale for all the characters. It’s an amazing story!

Lizard’s Tale Is A Very Emotional Story

Like I said, I had a little trouble getting into the book at first. That’s because at the start it made me feel so sad – it starts off in a rocky way for the characters, especially Lizard. He’s an orphan, and his life really, really sucks. To top it off, he’s mixed race, part British – which really doesn’t do him any favors in the Singapore Chinatown, because a lot of people judge him purely on being different. And yet, by following him through his escapade that gets him into all this trouble, we realize his life is about to start sucking much, much more. I couldn’t take that for a while and I dropped the book to “let it cool off”.

But when I returned, I was so glad I did. The book really does take off, the action is swift and the story doesn’t dawdle at all. Things just kept going and I couldn’t stop reading. There were quite a few twists as well, and I never expected this as I started the book. Lizard’s Tale definitely didn’t disappoint!

The Colorful Setting

What I liked a lot was the setting – I am always so happy to see a book set basically anywhere else but in the West (even if it’s never actually set in my neck of the woods!) Lizard’s Tale is set in Singapore in 1940. It is a multicultural setting, and there were a lot of different ethnicities in the story, and many characters with a colorful cultural background.

I especially loved the setting because this is the second book I’ve read recently that was set in Singapore! And while it was set in a different time, it still felt like I’m revisiting the place. Everything felt very genuine and interesting, and that is the best thing a book can give you – a trip to another place and another time. Hey, especially during the time of quarantine when you can’t even go out.

The Kids Kick Butt

I really love middle grade books where kids kick butt, and they kick so much of it in this one. But not unrealistically! This is not one of those books where the kids are some sort of super heroes – there is a branch of middle grade books with stories like that, and I love those too – but Lizard’s Tale is more realistic than that. Kids are just kids – but that’s what’s empowering about it. They’re just kids, but they’ve lived tough lives (well, some of them at least) – and you won’t get them down that easily.

And this may be a spoiler, although not a big one – but one of the girls is being trained in intelligence work – specifically because she’s a teenage girl, because those are usually looked over and people don’t pay them any mind. I seriously found that bit so awesome! Not many books manage to incorporate teenage intelligence workers, especially teenage girls as intelligence workers, and manage to do it in believable, natural ways. I would have been so happy as a kid or teen to read about characters like that.

Overall...

Lizard’s Tale was an amazing read. It had me tight in its grip, and while I must admit I grabbed it because of the cover (look at that cover!! A serious case of cover love here!!), the contents did not disappoint. I truly hope there will be some sort of sequel!

I thank the publisher for giving me a free copy of the ebook in exchange to my honest review. This has not affected my opinion.

I was quite surprised by this book - it was funny and action=packed, and I enjoyed every minute of it. The world-building was great, and I could imagine myself in Singapore on this adventure.
The complexity of this piece of history has been made accessible for children.
I especially loved all the twists and turns!

“‘You dirty animal!’ he snarled, grabbing Lizard by his shirt front. He shook Lizard until the little bones in his ears rattled. Lizard was terrified. He knew this man could snap his neck as easily as a used satay stick if he wanted to, and he was pretty sure he wanted to.”

Lizard’s Tale is the first novel for younger readers by Singapore-born New Zealand author, Weng Wai Chan. Since his Uncle Archie failed to return from a city trip two years ago, twelve-year-old Lizard has been fending for himself. He quit their house in Changi and came to the city to find his Uncle, surviving on his wits until tailor’s daughter, Lili Mak got him a place to live above their shop, and they became best friends. Now he goes to the Mission School, does errands for petty criminal, Boss Man Beng, and makes a little money on the side writing letters in Chinese.

Beng’s latest assignment promises to pay well, and when Lizard is caught in the act of stealing a plain teak box from a suite at the Raffles Hotel by the spoiled and very bored daughter of the GM of the New British East India Company, he cleverly manages to talk his way out. But the box is clearly unlucky: when he goes to hand it over to the boss, Beng has been brutally murdered.

“The box haunted Lizard. Since it had come into his life, just a few hours ago, he had been caught stealing, been beaten up, seen Boss Man Beng murdered and made Lili mad at him. Lizard feared the box, but he also burned with curiosity. What was the book, and what was it for? And could it have something to do with his uncle’s disappearance?”

Lili Mak is one of a select group of schoolgirls who have been training under the Maximum Operations Enterprise as spies for the British Empire, and she is selected for an important mission at the Raffles Hotel observing a certain GM, because who ever notices a girl? She’s very surprised to see Lizard there in the suite, and even more surprised to see that he has a certain missing teak box. Quickly, however, the situation escalates with a theft and a kidnapping.

There’s plenty of action in this 1940 adventure tale with Japanese spies, miniature cameras, lock-picking, code books and secret messages. Young readers will delight in these clever and resourceful young individuals, as well as being amused by some of the silly character names: Fatty Dim Sum, Brylcreem, Buck Tooth. Chan also inserts a few messages about xenophobia, imperialist practices, nationalism and the cruelties of war, and of course friendship and loyalty.

Chan easily evokes Singapore of the era, the noise and crowding, the cosmopolitan feel and the attitudes of the residents of the city, and the underlying threat of invasion. It may be aimed at younger readers, but adults may well find this an atmospheric and entertaining read.

This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Text Publishing

I tried to read this book, but I wasn't interested in the story or in the characters and the writing style, even if simple, didn't help. It sounded really good, but I could not be impressed whatsoever. I really liked the setting, anyway.

Lizard is categorized in Netgalley as a middle-grade novel, but I’m sure older readers will have fun with it too. I chose it because I wanted an exotic, historic adventure and I got more than what I bargained for.

The story is set in 1940 in pre-war Singapore under British colonial government (it was attacked right after Pearl Harbor). The main character is Lizard, a 12-year-old orphan. His dear guardian Uncle Charlie who took care of him left one day and never came back, and Lizard has been surviving in Chinatown ever since, by using his skills (his knowledge of written Chinese, among others) and wits to earn a few coins to pay for his cot above a tailor’s shop. Lizard is offered some serious money by a shady man if he steals something from the British at the famous Raffles Hotel, but when he does, things go seriously awry. At this stage I feared it was going to be very tragic and Dickensian.

Just at this point entered a few terrific girly characters, including Lizard’s best friend Lili, who stole the show and turned it into something completely different. Something like Zhang Ziyi in Crouching Tiger and Hidden Tiger, mixed with Sherlock Holmes and James Bond. So yes, there’s some serious suspension of disbelief necessary to follow every twist and turn of the action. In this book, big issues and big stakes are placed in the hands of kids, and I really liked that the author didn’t dumb it down (although the violence and reality of war and spying is obviously toned down for the audience). Lizard and Lili are resourceful and optimistic and it’s a pleasure to follow them in their adventures.

I’ve never been to Singapore (although I’m very familiar with Hong Kong), but I see that the author took great care to locate the action in real neighborhoods and buildings. The book is also very good at showing the diversity of Singapore people, the mixing of their languages, cultures, food and neighborhoods. There are foreign names and dialect sentences but it’s not overwhelming nor fake, and I could easily visualize the place, its smells and muggy heat.

It was quite an unexpected fun romp, but I couldn’t help but find that the book tried too hard to cram too many things into one single story, especially towards the end. It could have easily made a trilogy, and would have allowed younger audience to understand better the very particular historical and geographical context.

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley, for review consideration.

Gosh, I loved this now as I read it in my late 30s and I can just imagine how much I would've adored this book were I to read it 30 years ago! It has everything I love from the cute cover, a very capable Chinese girl, to a beautiful bittersweet ending.

Lizard is the name of this 12 year-old boy who has no one is known by. While he himself if a clever young fellow, he does not know his way around big cities. Luckily, he found help in a Chinese girl called Lili and the two formed a friendship, of sort. Lizard, these days, will do all sorts of things to stay above water. Meantime, he kept an eye out for his missing uncle. Until the day that he inadvertently got involved in something well beyond his ken. Lucky for him, there are friends who cared for him who are willing to help.

Let me provide a complete list of things I loved of this novel:
Cute eye-catching cover
own voice (POC) author
Great characters: resilient & courageous MC with brave & resourceful sidekicks
Friendship Friendship Friendship
Set in Asia (Singapore)
Diverse characters (and let me stress the DIVERSE here)
Set in WW2 (or just before)

A terrific mystery, fast paced plot, and marvellous characters, Lizard's Tale is highly recommended for readers of ALL ages!

Thanks to Text Publishing via Netgalley for ecopy of book in exchange of honest review

An e-ARC was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange of an honest review. This does not effect my opinion in any way.

I guess I’m just going to start with the one thing that I didn’t like and bothered me. The story takes place in Singapore with 95% of the cast being Asian people. Anyway. There was that one scene where a British white girl put make up on her face so that she could look like an Asian person. She paints her face with paprika and turmeric so that her skin isn’t white and matches Asian people’s skin color. Here an excerpt of the scene:

“‘And that color?’ he asked, waggling his fingers in front of his face.

‘Paprika and a little turmeric paste. I’ve done it before.’ She studied the back of her left hand. ‘Do you think it suits me?’ Up close, the colour was jarring and unnatural. He’d only ever seen one persone anywhere near that colour, and that person had been suffering from malarial jaundice.”

And I don’t know if it’s just me (maybe it is since I didn’t see anyone mention it in review I found) but I kinda find it offensive? Like, someone disguising themselve to look like an Asian person so they can walk around without being noticed since they’re white. I don’t know if this scene will be in the final version of the book, since I’m only reading an eARC but know that it is something that happens in the book.

Putting this aside, I really enjoyed Lizard’s Tale and I believe it’s a really important book that should be put in children’s hands. The story takes place in the 40s, the British Empire colonized a bunch of Asian countries and WWII is currently happening. The book deals with important subject and theme as colonization, racism, war and its consequences. I was also really surprised when I noticed the author referencing to past war crimes as the Nanking massacre (please note that the author doesn’t write “Nanking massacre” but make subtle reference to it with the words “Shanghai” and “invasion”). I’ve been reading middle grade books for a while now and I noticed that more and more, they tend to touch important subject as identity especially when the protagonist is a poc. But, this is really the first time I read a middle grade book which deals with heavy subjects as war and colonization. This is so important and interesting. I believe we have to shield children to heavy and scary stuff (e.g not being to explicit in how we write the story) but I believe it doesn’t mean we, adults, shouldn’t talk to them about what happened in the past.

And I’m not scared to say that I learnt a lot. I was born in France so I didn’t learn a lot of stuff about the British Empire and its colonies. Just the basic. And that’s why I’m so happy I read this book because I learn so much about what happened in Singapore during that time period. More than just referencing the colonies, the author actively discuss the colonies. Is it wrong? Is it right? What are the consequences? The author gives you the tools to question what happened during that time and I believe she did a great job.

I also really liked Lizard, the main character. He is so young but so brave, looking for his uncle who suddenly disappeared. And for someone who more or less spend most of his time in the streets, I can’t believe how kind he is. He may have stolen stuff but he knows it’s bad and he knows when he has to do the right thing and that’s why Lizard’s Tale was such an entertaining story to read.

The book is packed with actions, with spies and undercover agents. It’s a fun, entertaining and important story I believe people should read.

Weng Wai Chan paints a picture of Singapore in 1940 that is as richly detailed as the magnificent cover-art on this middle grade tale of espionage and adventure.

For two years Lizard has been fending for himself in Singapore, since his beloved Uncle Archie went out on business one day from their Changi stilt-house and didn't come back. With the help of his friend Lili, he's established a new home of sorts in a cubicle above her father's tailorshop, and has found a place in school. To make the money he needs to pay rent and buy food, Lizard writes the odd letter and also does a bit of petty crime, mainly for Boss Man Beng. His latest job could earn him $100 - a veritable fortune. All he has to do is to steal a teak box from a suite at Raffles Hotel, and bring it to Boss Man Beng underneath the Singapore Railway Station clock at 10pm. Not even one minute late, or there could be deadly consequences!

Well, not everything goes to plan, but Lizard and Lili are resourceful kids. They're determined to get to the bottom of the mystery of the teak box. Along the way they uncover a number of big secrets, find out that they each have skills the other didn't know about, and play a part in averting Japanese invasion!

Although the protagonists are children (around 12, I think) the story is sophisticated enough to appeal to older readers and even adults. Chapters are reasonably short and have a distinct episodic feel that lends itself to reading in chunks (if you can resist reading through to the end just to find out what happens!). What I liked most about this book though was the vision of Singapore in 1940 - the author delivers the sights, sounds, smells and flavours of the city so vividly. Highly recommended.

A great adventure and historical story for mid level elementary school kids. Streetwise Lizard is a memorable character.

Set in pre-war Singapore during the British colonization, Weng Wai Chan takes us to a time period where everyone is starting to feel the stress over the possibility of war with Japan and their potential invasion. Lizard’s Tale is primarily about a Japanese Navy code book the British are trying to get hold of and that the Japanese are trying to get back.

At the beginning of the story we find that Lizard (his initials are LZD) has been hired to steal a teak box from the general manager of the New British East India Company. He had been warned that this box is dangerous and could get his boss and him killed, which soon after comes true when the person who hired him is murdered before Lizard can deliver the box. Soon after Lizard finds himself in the world of spies and rescue attempts as Lizard tries to figure out what to do with this box.

I am so glad I got a chance to read this book. Besides being a delightful story, what this book offers young and old readers is the chance to learn a little history and and potentially learn more about other cultures. The author does a really good job of creating a setting that feels very authentic to the location, period, and characters within the book. By weaving in Cantonese, Mandarin, and Japanese words, phrases, and sayings we are given the opportunity to feel immersed in this land during this period of history. Not to mention insights into the culture or era when the author shows us how those who have multiracial parentage might have been treated, along with providing us with Singapore citizen’s sense of fear of a potential Japanese invasion and how different citizen's may have felt about British colonization.

The events in the story are fictional, however, the Author’s Note section at the end of the book tells how there were indeed spies on both sides collecting information prior to the Bombing of Singapore on December 8, 1941 and that some of the characters and locations are inspired from historical figures or places.

There is also a glossary at the end for the words/phrases used during the story.

Due to a murder and death scene near the beginning of the book that includes a weapon and blood and because younger readers may have trouble with the new words/phrases being introduced I am recommending this more for the older middle graders audience.

Rating: 4.5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and Text Publishing for the advanced reader copy and opportunity to provide an honest review.

A well written historical fiction middle grade that I would recommend to adults alike. The language is sophisticated enough for families to read snd learn together. This is definitely a higher middle grade book in my opinion, ages 10 and up.

Lizard's tale by Weng Wai Chan is a brilliant spin of children spies and military espionage. Lizard has found himself living the life of a street thief since his Uncle Archie has disappeared. The three main characters are all children that find themselves in adult situations. The reader is able to witness what can only be seen as courage or naivety from the children as they take on gangsters and government officials.
Lizard is tasked with stealing a box but is stuck with the stolen merchandise when his boss is killed. This is where his troubles begin. What he stole is wanted by many interested parties including; his best friend Lili, a scary thug named Katsu, women who run a spy school, street children, the Japanese government, and of course the British government.
The mention of multiple languages intertwined with many cultures creates an realistic glimpse back into the 40's in this area. I found myself only connecting to Lizard as he turns out to be one of the few characters you can root for. Part of it has to do with his ability to speak many languages and read/write languages but also blend into to many settings with his looks/accent. His intentions are honest and he truthful whenever possible unlike the people in his life.
It is so well written for a first book I look forward to any future book by Weng Wai Chan.
You'll find yourself wanting to vacation at Raffles Hotel in Singapore by the time you've reached the glossary at the end of the book.

WWII is one of my favorite times to read about. I love all the new angles people are writing from and I’ll never say no to historical fiction. So having a Middle Grade book take place at hte beginning of WWII in Singapore sounded really interesting. Throw in a little accidental espionage and it’s set to be an amazing work of fiction. The only problem is the novel gets a bit wordy. If it was geared towards the YA audience I would say it was perfect. Yes it’s long and a lot happens in a VERY short amount of time but that’s YA for you. Instead the main characters are pre-teens and go through a lot in such a short window and the book is long. I liked the flow of it but in the end it was a little tedious to get through because so much was thrown in instead of the book being broken up and becoming a cute kid spy series set in the 40s.

Was it a book book? Yes. I would recommend it because the story was enjoyable but it could have been broken in half or had some of the side characters cut out and been just as good.

I know very little about World War Two (WWII) in Asia 1940 and Lizard's Tale was able to convey a lot of information about this period and region in an appealing age-appropriate story about espionage.

This spy story touches on empire, colonialism, nationalism, and identity. And cleverly highlights the racism between cultures, prejudices against races and national identity.

Lucas Zachariah Dale, known as Lizard is a biracial young boy who has had a fractured start to life.

'as the years went by, Lizard had stopped asking, though the hurt of being given away like a bundle of rages had never fully gone away'

Lizard arrives at his Uncle's house at 4 years old and we are never told why his mother made that decision to have him live with his father's side of the family but we can surmise.
He is half Chinese and half English. Throughout the book, there are references to the prejudice he faced from looking different, being different and as a consequence not fitting in anywhere without comments on his differences. One example is his spoken English was with a British lilt.

Where do you belong, who determines that and why?

Lizard Tale follows primarily three children Lizard, Lilli, and Georgina who are trying to find out the significance of a book he stole, its importance on current events and Lizard's low key search for his missing Uncle Archie. This is a friendship group that started out of necessity but real bonds are made through their trials.

I am a sucker for intrepid children who are resourceful and disarming. Whose small efforts make a big difference in their lives and in Lizard's Tale, the world stage. These are children who have purposely decided to do make a stand against obligation, expectations and gender roles.

True to the era, the stereotype of girls not seen and heard, are maximised by Lilli and Georgina who are quick-witted and capable females. In fact, all the children bring their individual skills to bear in resolving this layered mystery.

Lizard's tale is about friendship, courageous children and making a difference when trying to find a place that fits. It's paced just right, pitched at a level that adults and young children would enjoy and the writing is terrific. There's no glaring obvious clues, just those seen by skilled detectives.
.
Such a great book, I'm hoping to read more about Lizard or a new tale from this author soon

4 Stars - Really Liked It

Lizard's life changes the night he steals a mystery box in pre war Singapore.

A great historical fiction book that is easy to read and hard to put down. Lizard's best friend, Lili also has a secret that has the power to endanger them.

If you like the idea of action, adventure and teenage spies, this is the book for you.

Theme: action, adventure, mystery, friendship.