Book 1
by James Ponti
Aladdin
2020
384 pages
ISBN: 9781534414914
Slick, clever and fun, City Spies is a dynamic new series opener by James Ponti.
Sara Martinez is a computer genius who can hack into any site. Usually, Sara doesn't cause any trouble. She only hacked the New York foster care database to report on the latest of her foster homes. She gets caught, and now awaits court. Enter a stranger who claims to be her lawyer.
He is an enigma and clearly (at least to Sara) NOT a lawyer. Sara agrees to work with this man in order to gain her freedom. The judge agrees for him to take Sara into custody, and he spirits her off to Scotland to meet his team of teen spies. Sara's savior is an MI6 agent who goes by the name "Mother." He has recruited kids from all over the world to train at FARM: The Foundation for Atmospheric Research and Monitoring, which is cover for covert operations and tons of satellite feeds. Mother has a few enemies of his own (what did you expect from a career MI6 agent?)
Sara meets the team, each nicknamed for the city Mother found them in: Rio, Sydney, Paris and Kat. Each teen has skills that will be useful on any spy team. Sara, now named Brooklyn, is the team's computer genius. The team does several training drills before Mother tells them what their mission is: keep billionaire philanthropist Stavros Sinclair safe during a global youth summit. Everyone has a reason to be there, even the bad guys.
Sara is an engaging character who will resonate with readers. Fans of this book will probably follow the next books in the series. Ponti tells a smart story with enough high stakes details to engage middle grade kids.
Recommended grade 5 and up.
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