City Spies (March 2020)
by James Ponti

Sara Martinez has been in and out of foster homes her whole life.  But when she hacks the computer network for the juvenile justice system to prove her current “caretakers” are guilty of breaking the law and taking cruel advantage of the system, she catches the attention of a man named Mother.  He recruits her for his team of young secret agents based in Scotland.  There, Sara (now “Brooklyn”) meets her team – Sydney, Paris, Kat, and Rio.  She’s got a very short amount of time to prepare for her first very large mission.  The team will be attending an international youth summit in Paris, trying to protect lives, rig the contest, and solve the mystery of what’s really going on.

This book is like Mysterious Benedict Society meets Alias.  I don’t even remember how it ended up on my library list, but I’m so very grateful it did.  It’s definitely one that grabs you and keeps you reading past bedtime.  I am SOooo excited to see this is a trilogy, and I have the next one sitting on the library hold shelf with my name on it.  Here’s the thing–I’m a genuine wuss about books and movies that involve tense situations, death, murder, and all those things that usually come along with suspenseful, exciting stories like this.  I loved this book, because even though there were some of those elements, they didn’t overwhelm the plot.  It was like the action was there without the ucky parts getting in the way, if that makes sense.  But, I think it would also satisfy those readers who don’t shy away from things the same way I do.  Anyway, definitely a must-read.  If you want to get lost in a book or you have a reluctant reader, read this!

(Some very interesting plot points considering the timing of its release too…)

 

Update:

Read City Spies: Golden Gate (book 2) and it was also great!  Now patiently awaiting the release of Book 3….