In 2008, another author I knew from our Live Journal blogs asked if I wanted to write a book together. She has published under the names of Debby Garfinkle, DL Green, or Debby Green. Her first book, Storky, was laugh-out-loud funny. Of course, I said yes. Debby roughed out the outline, and then we each took turns writing chapters.

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?

I wrote Nikki’s point of view, and Debby took Rebecca’s. We even played tricks on each other, like ending a chapter with something like, “When I opened the door, I gasped.” Theen the other person would have to explain why.
Along the way we became good friends. 

We finished the book and it went on sub, which means various editors considered buying it. It went to an acquisitions meeting at least once, but by January 2011, it was clear it was dead in the water.

But Debby never gave up. After a refresh, it sold it to Kar-Ben, a smaller publisher. And it came out in 2026! I used a pseudonym, because it’s a sweet middle grade, not a YA thriller.

​Reviews
Gr 3-8–Garfinkle and Patten’s novel alternates the first-person perspectives of 12-year-olds Nikki and Rebecca, two unlikely friends who meet and help each other out of sticky situations with tactics, not kvetching. Nikki, blonde and cued white, is hurt and frustrated with her single mom’s financial woes, which result in a move to a whole different neighborhood in Portland. She uses lies to cover up the harsh reality of her home situation, even with Rebecca (described as having “honey-colored skin” and dark, curly hair) who is navigating her mother’s death and her upcoming bat mitzvah. Religious overtones abound with Nikki’s mom’s mantra of “God has a plan” and Rebecca’s tensions with her faith in the face of grief. Nikki’s over-reliance on labels and status will strike a chord with many young readers, as will the girls’ deep friendship, and the depiction of the unexpected opportunities that breaking the addiction to external validation can provide. Garfinkle and Patten’s call to action implores readers to think globally and act locally with causes near and dear to tweens’ hearts, including clothes and baking. Back matter features cookie recipes. VERDICT A relatable, faith-infused realistic fiction tale that fits perfectly alongside Judy Blume’s Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret and Holly Goldberg Sloan and Meg Wolitzer’s To Night Owl from Dogfish
.–Laura Dooley-Taylor, School Library Journal

Rebecca Weiss, a thoughtful 12-year-old with dark curls and “honey-colored” skin, is struggling to prepare for her bat mitzvah while navigating shifting friendships and an emerging sense of identity.

Rebecca’s mother died several years ago, and now Hailey, her best friend, seems to have abandoned her for people in drama club. Rebecca’s world expands when Nikki Davis from affluent Portland Heights transfers into eighth grade. With her long blond hair and flair for fashion, Nikki, who’s Christian and cued white, has long tried to blend into her friends’ polished world of expensive clothing and fancy living. When her divorced mother loses her job and they move into a modest apartment, Nikki becomes determined to hide her changing circumstances, constructing increasingly elaborate lies to preserve the illusion. Told in chapters alternating between the girls’ perspectives, the novel offers a layered portrait of learning, sometimes painfully, to see oneself and others with honesty and empathy. Rebecca’s faith and moral grounding, which are tested by her upcoming bat mitzvah, provide an illuminating contrast to Nikki’s insecurity and hunger for acceptance. The authors deftly balance weighty themes—social class, faith, grief, and parental indifference—with moments of levity, including first crushes and babysitting mishaps, that deliver genuine comic relief. With emotional candor, the novel blends humor and heart with a contemporary sensibility. Cookie recipes mentioned throughout appear at the end, adding a charming touch and symbolizing creativity and connection.

A tender, insightful exploration of friendship, forgiveness, and the courage to live authentically. (Fiction. 8-12)
—Kirkus 

Rules for Liars is an insightful dual narrative middle grade novel exploring friendship, grief, authenticity, and the power of embracing the truth. The book begins at a moment of crisis for two middle school girls, Rebecca and Nikki. Rebecca is weeks away from her bat mitzvah, for which she is not at all prepared. She can’t seem to focus on her Torah portion, speech, or anything else she needs to learn, and perseverates on what others will think of her simple party, all her dad can afford. She constantly compares herself to her seemingly perfect older brother. She is also dealing with grief over her mother’s death and absence at this important moment.
Rebecca lies a little; Nikki lies a lot. In fact, Nikki lives within a web of lies so thick that maintaining the facade she has built has been her sole focus. But with her mom’s job as the caretaker for a wealthy game developer’s house coming to an end, Nikki’s lies are no longer sustainable. She moves out of the fancy home to an apartment in Rebecca’s building in a different part of town, and finds her new reality hard to accept. Her hurt is deep too; her father has not seen her in many years, but his Instagram shows Nikki his new family and the luxurious life he is living. It’s not hard to see what her lies have been protecting.
Rebecca and Nikki are connected to their faiths, Judaism and Christianity, and they thoughtfully consider how that does and doesn’t match with their thoughts and actions day to day. Through their growing friendship, and the tests of that friendship, they are able to find their way to an authentic way of being that feels very real and quite satisfying. A number of funny events occur that are believable and serve to strengthen the girls’ bond. Highly recommended.
Jewish themes are key to this book. Rebecca’s rocky but ultimately very meaningful journey to becoming a bat mitzvah will resonate with many readers. Nikki’s use of her talents to add specialness and warmth that day is a lovely surprise. Both characters make Rules for Liars shine. The book has universal appeal and is highly suitable for all libraries.  Rules for Liars has something to say, and does so with depth and sparkle. 
​—Jewish Book Garden 

Debra Garfinkel and April Patten’s new mid­dle-grade nov­el begins with a mov­ing homage to Judy Blume. As in Blume’s Are You There God? It’s Me, Mar­garet, Rebec­ca Weiss asks for divine help with her prob­lems. Like Mar­garet Simon, she is con­fused, but she also uses wry and self-dep­re­cat­ing humor to nav­i­gate con­flicts. (Unlike Moses, had she seen a burn­ing bush, she would have called 911.) Her upcom­ing bat mitz­vah and alien­ation from her best friend aren’t uncom­mon, but her mother’s death from can­cer is over­whelm­ing, the back­ground to all the stress in her life. Believ­able char­ac­ters and a well-paced nar­ra­tive tell the truth about a dif­fi­cult sub­ject: lying. 

Jew­ish con­tent is framed with real­is­tic details. Rebecca’s fam­i­ly con­fronts finan­cial hard­ships. Her father is a preschool teacher, and unre­solved med­ical debt is a bur­den for him, Rebec­ca, and her old­er broth­er, Noah. The prospect of a low-key bat mitz­vah par­ty, dif­fer­ent from the lav­ish cel­e­bra­tions she has come to expect, is painful for her. Yet there are rich­er Jew­ish ele­ments, includ­ing spe­cif­ic ref­er­ences to her parasha, and to the sig­nif­i­cance of the She­ma and Mod­eh Ani prayers. The chap­ter enti­tled “What My Torah Read­ing Means to Me” brings togeth­er the Jew­ish themes, and is a beau­ti­ful­ly cal­i­brat­ed expres­sion of Rebecca’s deep­est feelings.

When Nik­ki Davis moves to Rebecca’s neigh­bor­hood, both girls have the chance to devel­op a new friend­ship based on mutu­al sup­port. Nikki’s sin­gle moth­er had been work­ing for a wealthy fam­i­ly, allow­ing them to live in an upscale Port­land, Ore­gon neigh­bor­hood. But cir­cum­stances have changed, and the elab­o­rate mesh of lies that Nik­ki had invent­ed, in order to fit in with her super­fi­cial friends, has become use­less. Reli­gion is impor­tant to Nikki’s fam­i­ly, as it is to Rebec­ca. Nik­ki and her moth­er attend church, and Nik­ki refers to New Tes­ta­ment teach­ings when mak­ing choic­es. At the same time, she has devised a strat­e­gy of how to sur­vive by telling lies. These prag­mat­ic guide­lines, includ­ing “blend in the truth with your lies,” and “stick with your lie no mat­ter what,” have become a trap. When she tells a par­tic­u­lar­ly out­ra­geous false­hood to Rebec­ca, Nikki’s insen­si­tiv­i­ty is both shock­ing and entire­ly understandable.

Rebecca’s approach to dis­hon­esty is less sys­tem­at­ic, but no less com­pro­mis­ing. Try­ing to impress her crush, the tru­ly won­der­ful Josh Gold­ham­mer, she mis­rep­re­sents the facts about her fam­i­ly. Lag­ging bat mitz­vah prepa­ra­tion traps her into less-than-hon­est updates to her father and Can­tor Segal. Adults are not per­fect in this sto­ry; they try their best but some­times fail. The cantor’s occa­sion­al impa­tience and Mr. Weiss’s con­stant praise of his accom­plished son pro­vide a con­text that helps read­ers under­stand Rebecca’s own mistakes.

There are many nov­els for young read­ers about failed friend­ships and dis­ap­point­ing par­ents. Rules for Liars stands out for its hon­esty, humor, and emo­tion­al depth. It is high­ly rec­om­mend­ed and includes a selec­tion of Rebec­ca and Nikki’s cook­ie recipes.

—Jewish Book Council