Middle Grade Fun Pick: City Spies

City Spies
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.

YA Pick: Warcross

Warcross
by Marie Lu
G.P. Putnam's Sons
2017
353 pages
ISBN: 9780399547966


Goggles on. Enter Warcross. 

Warcross is not just a game; it's an alternate reality lifestyle embraced by millions worldwide. In a decade, professional gamers and ordinary people have become hooked on a lifestyle that enables them to escape the mundane of every day. Hooked is the key word. Some people are so wrapped up in Warcross, they illegally bet all their money and end up homeless or dead.

Warcross inventor Hideo Tanaka becomes a billionaire. Emika Chen is just a girl when she sees his photo for the first time. She follows his career and learns code due to her infatuation for him.

Emika  is a bounty hunter who collects money when she catches illegal betters on Warcross, but she's beyond living paycheck to paycheck. She's living meal to meal and her landlord is threatening eviction. Emika corners a criminal worth a hefty $5000 only to lose him again.  Distraught, Emika is about to give up and become homeless when she slips on her Warcross  neurolink.

Emika is not a pro by any means but she knows code and she's discovered a few weak areas  of the game.  Never before has she thought of sneaking in, but times are tough. Emika slips into the game and steals a valuable piece which captures  Hideo's attention. She is just the type of girl he's looking for. Hideo contacts her, pays her debts and hires her. Hideo needs someone for security. Someone sneaky. Someone no one in his company knows. Emika is the perfect person. No one will suspect a player to be security.

Soon Emika becomes a worldwide celebrity of the game. The matches are bigger than the Super Bowl, but Emika has a job to do. She has to find out who is bugging the game and why. Emika is living a surreal experience: she has fantasized about meeting Hideo for years and now she's working for him. All is not as it seems.

Warcross is a slam dunk and a high powered adrenaline rush. Gamers will delight. If someone doesn't develop Warcross as a real game, it's a missed opportunity. Cover art is spectacular. Kudos to the marketing and graphic arts team.

Highly, highly recommended grade 8 and up. Reluctant readers who enjoy video games may be intrigued.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

YA Pick

I Am a Genius of Unspeakable Evil and I Want To Be Your Class President
by Josh Lieb
Razorbill (Penguin), 2009.
302 pages

This debut novel for young adults by screenwriter Josh Lieb whose credits include t.v. shows The Simpsons, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and NewsRadio is hilarious! Readers who liked the Wimpy Kid series will probably eat this up.

Oliver is not just your ordinary middle school kid. He really is a genius of unspeakable evil and he really does want to be the class president. He takes $500.00 in bingo winnings and invests in stock--soon he finds himself a billionaire. But, everyone knows a kid can't buy and sell stocks or companies or take over the world until he's at least 18 years old. Oliver finds a "patsy" to act as the head of his company: Sheldrake Industires.


Running for class president proves harder than running a billion dollar corporation. Middle school is not for the faint of heart! Snarky comments and funny illustrations with Oliver's footnotes on almost every page make this book memorable.

Highly recommended grades 6-12. Anyone with a sense of humor should enjoy this book.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I bought this novel for my middle school library. I received no monetary compensation for my review.

YA Pick

The Compound
by S.A. Bodeen
Feiwel and Friends (Macmillan), 2008.
248 pages.

This first novel was surprising. Surprisingly great! The Compound strikes close to home in this era of the Internet and streaming video where news stories hit the net within seconds. Because we are so aware of government coups, upheavals, gorilla warfare, and nukes, we are afraid of something happening as it does in this novel.

Eli and his family are forced into a safe compound underground built by his eccentric billionaire father. Eli's twin and grandmother don't make it before the iron door shuts. They are lost to the family. The world as Eli knew it has been destroyed by nukes and radiation. They are only safe stuck in the compound for the next fifteen years. The vault cannot be opened until fifteen years pass and the world is "safe" from nuclear fall-out. His father has planned this safe haven for years and stockpiled supplies, even medicine and a medical wing. They are prepared for anything. Except the livestock start dying, flour is running short, and they are facing a real food crisis. His father has planned for that. Every year a new Supplement joins the family. These are the offspring of Eli's mother and father--yes, children--, but they are not considered part of the family. They are raised in case the food runs out.

Eli and his sister find shocking news. They discover that their father has been in touch with the outside world through the Internet. They wonder, if there is Internet, people are still alive! And if there is Internet, most of the world must be normal! Eli confronts his father about the lies, and the novel continues to shock. Readers who like thrillers will love this one. Recommended for all YA collections, grades 7 and up.