Hi BookWorms! Today I’m going to be reviewing the witty book by Stuart Gibbs, Spy School.
Ben Ripley is your regular middle school nerd, but when a dapper man shows up at his house saying that he is being recruited for his dream job, Ben goes out on a limb and says yes. The rest is a blur. He gets dragged out of his house to the “St.Smithen’s Science Academy for Boys and Girls” which is really a cover for the CIA’s Academy of Espionage, only to be shot at, meet the most beautiful girl he’s ever seen, Erica, and find out that it was all part of a test, on which he received a D-; all within the first few minutes of arriving.
That very same night he finds out that his file contains false information, gets attacked by an assassin who asks him about his FAKE cryptography skills, and figures out that spy school isn’t as great as he thought it would be. Ben gets relocated to the Box, a cell-like room designed as a holding cell for criminals, meanwhile his dorm is turned into a crime scene. Later that night he finds out he was recruited to spy school as bait, and not because of his skills. Ben doesn’t find this hard to believe, because even though his math skills might be through the roof he lacks in everything else. Soon he finds himself wrapped up in a mole hunt alongside Erica, so naturally things get interesting pretty quickly.
Spy school is a great read for middle age kids, it’s exciting and funny with many gripping twists and turns along the way. However, since it is a spy novel, it has many mentions of weapons and violence although there is no gore mentioned at all. There is also a few sparse mentions of the a-word, but nothing to be too worried about. For these reasons, I suggest 9-10+.
Now, for my postly “how would I describe this book in 3-4 words”
Witty, Thrilling, and Inventive
Thanks for reading,
Camila
P.S. Happy Belated Thanksgiving!
BookWorm 