City Spies

City Spies

James Ponti

Simon & Shuster, 2020

367 pages

Grades 4-7

Mystery/Adventure

City Spies series #1

Our story begins with twelve-year-old Sarah before a judge who will determine her future after she was caught hacking into the juvenile justice system of New York City. In sweeps a strange man, claiming to be a lawyer, to save the day. Sarah choses to trust him, even though she can see through his sham. He springs her, afterwhich confessing to run a British spy ring hoping to recruit her. This is certainly a better future than what awaits Sarah in the NYC foster care system, so she accepts and the they travel to a remote part of Scotland. Here Sarah gets a room of her own, discovers the ancient house's secret lair, changes her name to Brooklyn and meets the other young spies, all around the same age as herself with a variety of talents. After a brief training period the man who recruited her, code name "Mother", explains the mission. The kids will be posing as academics in an environmental competition in Paris offered by an eccentric millionaire who is rarely seen. The team must help to protect the millionaire, who is a target for criminals, and will need Brooklyn's skill as a hacker to get the job done. Identities are not what they seem and the job is not as cut-and-dry as they expected. As the mission progresses, the team is solidified, renaming themselves "City Spies" since they are all named after their cities of origin. The mystery remains about the whereabouts of Mother's children and ex-wife and another adventure is sure to follow for the fresh young spies.

Along with Stuart Gibbs, James Ponti is a sought after writer of mysteries for children and has many satisfied and returning customers. Kids love his books, which combine mystery and adventure and, in the case of this series, exciting locals. City Spies sets up this latest series, each taking place in a different city and offering a banger of an adventure. Ponti must make all of the characters orphans in order for them to have permission to do dangerous feats and they are all exceptional in their own rights. That said, they all have vulnerabilities and distinct personalities. One of the characters appears to be on the spectrum and there is racial and gender diversity within the cast. The plot offers twists and turns and reads quickly, making it a good choice for reluctant readers. There are no pictures (hooray!), but profiles of the child spies are included at the back of the volume in a dossier format which will help readers tell everyone apart, though I didn't have a problem with this as the characters are fully drawn within the narrative. The main arc of the story reaches a satisfying conclusion and the mystery is solved, yet an overall arc of the whereabouts of Mother's family will lead the reader to further installments. When you suggest this first volume to young readers they will inevitably be back within the week for volume two, proving that it is a hit with the intended audience.