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 Girls In this thrilling new series that Stuart Gibbs called “a must-read,” Edgar Award winner James Ponti brings together five kids from … 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…
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Sara Martinez is in jail after hacking into New York’s juvenile justice system to turn in her foster parents. She gets the surprise of her life when her lawyer turns out to be a man called Mother, who reveals himself to be a British spy. He whisks Sara away to Scotland where she joins a secret team of MI6 made up of other kids like herself. Sara has joined them just weeks before their next mission – infiltrating an ecological conference to stop a group that is out to sabotage it. Will Sara be far enough along in her training to be an asset to her team? Will they succeed in their mission?
I saw this new series debut recommended by another author I love, and I’m so glad I did. This middle grade book is fast paced. We get plenty of set up, but everything is introduced as part of the story, so it never slows things down. Once the mission begins, the pace picks up even more, and I couldn’t put the book down. Some of the elements are a little over the top, but I just reminded myself this is a spy story and got right back into the book. We don’t get to know all the characters well yet, but we definitely saw some growth in Sara and a few others, and what we saw of them is great. There are some truly heartwarming moments as well as moments that made me laugh. This is a fantastic middle grade book for readers of all ages.
This book was a book that you could savor forever. This book took me to another place of adventure and it was just downright out of this world!!
What a great series starter! I loved the Dead City series so I just had to check this out. While the premise of teenage spies is kind of ridiculous these sort of books are just flat out fun. The author assembles a cast of likable and relatable characters that you pretty much root for the entire time, and I’m looking forward to discovering more (there’s a lot of backstory left unrevealed).
This entire book was unbelievably fun. I haven’t smiled like that all the way through a book in a very long time. Even when things were getting intense and serious, I was smiling because of how good the writing was.
If you’re a middle grade book fan, or if you have any littles in your life who want to go on a grand adventure, then buy this book.
I wish City Spies had been around when I was 10 or so. I would have made all of my friends read it and then we’d play by recreating scenes; which is obviously the highest compliment a kid can give a book.
And on a slightly unrelated note: fully imagine Mother being David Tennant with his Doctor Who hair… you’re welcome.
CITY SPIES
By James Ponti
Wow! What an amazing book! Let me say that knowing this was a kids book, I did forget this several times and as an adult I thoroughly enjoyed the storyline, writing and characters of this genius story. It was from the beginning a real page turner and kept me interested, intrigued and wanting more and more. This book is wonderful for middle grade, young adults and adults alike. I promise you will love it.
It begins with a 12 year old, Sara in a foster home, who is seen more as a dollar sign that the foster parents receive from the Government than an actual child. They treat her and another child particularly bad and go out of their way to enforce unjust punishment.
One day while in court for using her intelligence to break into some computers, an unknown man comes in to rescue Sara from going away to Juvenile Detention and saving her from the doom she would have faced.
Now Sara gets a brief explanation of who he is and where he is from and that she is needed for an important mission. He knows all about her because he is in fact a spy working with a group that was handpicked to work for the British Secret Intelligence Service.
She leaves America and finds herself among other kids that have remarkable skills to pull off this mission. They must get to know each other, train together and pull off this Emergency Mission.
What happens in between and after will keep you glued to your book until the very last page. A very well deserved 5 without a doubt!
I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book. All views expressed are only my honest opinion.