City Spies
By James Ponti
Publisher : Aladdin (March 10, 2020)
Hardcover : 384 pages
ISBN-10 : 1534414916
ISBN-13 : 978-1534414914
Reading level : 8 - 12 years
Lexile measure : 750L
Grade level : 3 - 7
Publisher’s Blurb:
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…
My Thoughts:
Short version: Get this
book.
Longer version: I first
became aware of Ponti through his TOAST series. My then-seventh-grader
resists everything I suggest, but her love of John Grisham’s Theodore Boone books
prompted me to nudge her a little. When the pandemic closed our schools, I got
her a box set of the TOAST books and she loved them. So City Spies
was a natural next step.
Reader, she has read the
book at least 10 times. She loves it. This is an epic win.
Reader, I have read it too.
I also love it.
Ponti has a great grasp of
tween and tween behavior. The characters feel real, even if their situations
(consultants to the FBI, MI6 agents) are a stretch for the imagination. The
cover story for their presence in the organization is clever, and these
characters function so well in their circumstances that it becomes easy to
suspend your disbelief.
My daughter (and I) also
enjoy Ponti’s sense of humor and sneaky allusions. We loved the Matilda
references in Chapter 2.
The plot itself is fun, with
teen themes of fitting in and adapting to new situations, as well as a
fast-paced spy story.
Possible
objectionable material:
Sara is a hacker and we meet
her in juvie because of her illegal activities. Some violence. People have
died, but offscreen. Perilous situations. Tweens and teens running around
unsupervised. Deception.
Who might like
this book:
People who love spy stories.
People who enjoy humor. Those who like stories about teens. Either gender—both
are well represented in this book. This book was very readable for me as an
adult, with strong adult characters.
Thank you to Simon and
Shuster and NetGalley for providing me an ARC in exchange for my unbiased
opinion.
City Spies 2:
Golden Gate
By James Ponti
Publisher : Aladdin (March 16, 2021)
Hardcover : 432 pages
ISBN-13 : 978-1534414945
ISBN-10 : 1534414940
Reading level : 8 - 12 years
Grade level : 3 - 7
After thwarting a notorious villain at an eco-summit in Paris, the City Spies are gearing up for their next mission. Operating out of a base in Scotland, this secret team of young agents working for the British Secret Intelligence Service’s MI6 division have honed 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.
Fourteen-year-old Sydney is a surfer and a rebel
from Bondi Beach, Australia. She’s also a field ops specialist for the City
Spies. Sydney is excited to learn that she’ll be going undercover on the marine
research vessel the Sylvia Earle. But things don’t go exactly as
planned, and while Sydney does find herself in the spotlight, it’s not in the
way she was hoping.
Meanwhile, there’s been some new intel regarding
a potential mole within the organization, offering the spies a lead that takes
them to San Francisco, California. But as they investigate a spy who died at
the Botanical Gardens, they discover that they are also being investigated. And
soon, they’re caught up in an exciting adventure filled with rogue missions and
double agents!
This mission is hot! The City Spies are a go!
My Thoughts:
The characters we loved in City
Spies are back, and Ponti wastes no time bringing us into the middle of an
operation.
Where the first book focused
most on Sara/Brooklyn, this one gives us more from Sydney, without neglecting
the other characters. We get to know more backstories of the various City
Spies, as well as of Mother and Monty. Clues also trickle in about the disappearance
of Mother’s wife and children.
The mystery plot is just
intricate enough, with some good surprises that I didn’t see coming. Ponti’s
screenwriting past is apparent with the quick cuts in the climactic scenes.
Once again, my 13-year-old
is raving about this book. She’s read it three times and it won’t even be
released until March. It’s a good thing Ponti is working on the next one
already!
From my...slightly older...perspective, Ponti is writing good spy fiction. Forget that the spies are kids and just enjoy it as a good read.
There’s also a surprise
appearance by the “Prince of Wales”—not the one we know, but an imaginary one!
Go ahead. Preorder it now.
And then start your countdown!
Possible
Objectionable Material:
Perilous situations.
Breaking and entering. Tweens unaccompanied in a big city. Some violence, but
what is shown is minimal. Deception.
Who might like
this book:
People who love spy stories.
People who enjoy humor. Those who like stories about teens. Either gender—both
are well represented in this book. This book was very readable for me as an
adult, with strong adult characters.
Thank you to Simon and Shuster and NetGalley for providing me an ARC in exchange for my unbiased opinion.
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