Only the Good Spy Young by Ally Carter

Those daring (and often snarky) Gallagher girls are back in Ally Carter's latest spy school caper, Only the Good Spy Young (Hyperion, 2010). 

We catch up with Cammie and her pals in the middle of her junior year at the Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women (where exceptional means they go to a boarding school for spies). Double agents abound and Cammie doesn't know who to trust, or what to believe.

Like her Cov-Ops teacher, Mr. Solomon. Or his replacement from MI-6, Mr. Townsend. And then there's that cute boy Zach, her maybe boyfriend who goes to Blackthorne, (the boy equivalent of the Gallagher Academy). Even Cammie's own mother may not be telling her the truth. (But what can you really expect when your mother is a spy, and your school's headmistress?)

Such is the life of a spy, even a 16-year-old one.

Cammie, Bex, Liz and Macey team up to uncover the answers to what's really going on in the world of espionage. What is the Circle of Cavan, and why do they want to kidnap Cammie? However, fans of the series may be disappointed not to find the answers they seek in the pages of the fourth book.

Look at it this way, a good cliffhanger only means another book to come. 

4 bookmarks for lots of Gallagher Girl fun.

Don't Judge A Girl by Her Cover by Ally Carter

I am a big fan of The Gallagher Girls series. Equal parts teen romance and adventure story, the first two books by Ally Carter — I'd Tell You I Love You But Then I'd Have to Kill You (Hyperion, 2006) and Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy (Hyperion, 2007) — were highly entertaining reads, ones I recommend for readers 10 and up.

Book #3 in the series — Don't Judge A Girl by Her Cover (Hyperion, 2009) — is unfortunately my least favorite of the three. Cammie Morgan (aka The Cameleon) and her entourage of Gallagher Academy girls are about to enter their junior year at the Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women — a super secret training school for young female spies.

Their newest BFF, Macey McHenry, has spent the summer on the campaign trail with her father who is running for vice president of the United States. To wrap up summer break, Cammie joins her friend in Boston, where, a kidnapping attempt puts their training to a life and death test.

Back at school, with Secret Service hovering around Macey 24/7 and a personal body guard in the form of Cammie's aunt Abby, the girls' cov-ops lessons start hitting a little too close to home.

As the mysteries pile up around her, Cammie uncovers secrets about her family and her school, and the boy she's crushing on... all leading up to a cliffhanger ending that will have fans marking their calendars for book #4.

While I wasn't as swept up in this story as I was in the previous books, Carter does a good job of continuing the arc, feeding us hints about Zach, Mr. Solomon and even Cammie's father that make us wonder.

As Cammie often says, Gallagher Girls know that nothing is ever as it appears. But it's quite clear that Cammie's story is certain to have more twists and turns to come.

3 1/2 bookmarks.

Awaiting the next Gallagher Girl's installment?

The cover for the third Gallagher Girls book, Don't Judge a Girl by her Cover, was posted on Ally Carter's literary agent's site. LOVE IT! Can't wait for this one, if you haven't read Cross my Heart and Hope to Spy or I'd Tell You I Love You But Then I'd Have to Kill You, and you have or are a girl over 10, do so right away!!! These stories are so clever and fun -- about a special school that trains girls to be spies.

Book is out June 9th!