City Spies Series: City Spies #1 Published by Simon and Schuster on January 26, 2021
Source: Library book
Genres: Juvenile Fiction / Family / Alternative Family, Juvenile Fiction / Mysteries & Detective Stories, Juvenile Fiction / Thrillers & Suspense
Pages: 400
Find the Author: Website, Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, Amazon, Instagram
Format: Hardcover
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads
A New York Times bestseller!
A GMA3 Summer Reading Squad Selection!
“Ingeniously plotted, and a grin-inducing delight.” —People
“Will keep young readers glued to the page…So when do I get the sequel?” —Beth McMullen, author of Mrs. Smith’s Spy School for GirlsIn this thrilling new series that Stuart Gibbs called “a must-read,” Edgar Award winner James Ponti brings together five kids from all over the world and transforms them into real-life spies—perfect for fans of Spy School and Mrs. Smith’s Spy School for Girls.
Sara Martinez is a hacker. She recently broke into the New York City foster care system to expose her foster parents as cheats and lawbreakers. However, instead of being hailed as a hero, Sara finds herself facing years in a juvenile detention facility and banned from using computers for the same stretch of time. Enter Mother, a British spy who not only gets Sara released from jail but also offers her a chance to make a home for herself within a secret MI6 agency.
Operating out of a base in Scotland, the City Spies are five kids from various parts of the world. When they’re not attending the local boarding school, they’re honing their unique skills, such as sleight of hand, breaking and entering, observation, and explosives. All of these allow them to go places in the world of espionage where adults can’t.
Before she knows what she’s doing, Sara is heading to Paris for an international youth summit, hacking into a rival school’s computer to prevent them from winning a million euros, dangling thirty feet off the side of a building, and trying to stop a villain…all while navigating the complex dynamics of her new team.
No one said saving the world was easy…
Review
It is a spy-based middle-grade novel with lots of action, descriptions, education tidbits, and humor that will be entertaining for all who read it. The length of the story is long enough that you can explore the world and have some pretty action-packed sections that could be right out of an adult spy novel without the extreme blood and guts. If your child is intrigued by espionage, hackers, and adventurous-type stories or movies think spy kids, then this is the perfect book to read. The author keeps it appropriate for a middle-grade series but does not dumb it down to where you bored reading it. The five main characters are from various backgrounds and were recruited for this team due to their unique talent. I like the family we get from the group and how everyone is included and appreciated for what they bring to the team—a great start to the series.
About James Ponti
James Ponti is the New York Times Bestselling author of three Middle Grade book series: the all-new CITY SPIES, about an unlikely squad of five kids from around the world who form an elite MI6 Spy Team; The Edgar Award-winning FRAMED! series, about a pair of Sherlockian tweens who solve mysteries in Washington, D.C.; and the DEAD CITY trilogy, about a secret society that polices the undead living beneath Manhattan.
He is also an Emmy-nominated television writer and producer who has worked for many networks including Nickelodeon, Disney Channel, PBS, History Channel, Spike TV, and the Golf Channel. He lives with his family in Orlando, Florida.
| Rating Report | |
|---|---|
| Plot | |
| Characters | |
| Writing | |
| Pacing | |
| Cover | |
| Overall: | 4.5 |
