I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You

May 15, 2006
Set in a spy school for girls, this entertaining novel centers on 15-year-old Cammie, the headmistress's daughter, who must decide if she is cut out for a life of secrets. Though the plot takes a while to unfold, fun details and characters will keep readers engaged (Cammie and her friends speak 14 languages, take classes in Covert Operations, can rappel down buildings and plant tracking devices). But when Cammie, known as the Chameleon for her ability to disappear in public places, is spotted by a cute boy named Josh in the middle of the town fair, she begins a new mission: learning to be an ordinary girlfriend ("All these years I'd thought being a spy was challenging. Turns out, being a girl is the tricky part"). Cammie soon leads a double life, and must decide which one is right for her. Readers may find some details familiar (Cammie lost her spy father during a mission; her CoveOps teacher is a handsome, intense man who seems to get along too well with her mother) and wish that rich, bratty Macey, a new recruit who is "capable of cracking the Y chromosome code," had been developed more fully. But the author escalates the tension well, leading to the night of the final exam, where Cammie finds herself blindfolded, kidnapped and facing off against the retired spies of the faculty—and also confronting Josh. Readers will eagerly anticipate the next installment. Ages 12-up.

July 1, 2006
Gr 7-10 -Cammie Morgan, 15, is a student at Gallagher Academy, a top-secret boarding school for girls who are spies-in-training. She studies covert operations, culture and assimilation, and advanced encryption, and has learned to speak 14 languages. Her troubles begin when she falls for Josh, a local boy who has no clue about her real identity. Keeping her training secret forces her to lie to her new love, which leads to comic complications. Subplots include Cammie -s relationship with her mother -the headmistress at Gallagher -and her grief over the loss of her father, who died while on a spying assignment. The teen -s double life leads to some amusing one-liners, and the invented history of the Gallagher Girls is also entertaining, but the story is short on suspense. The stakes never seem very high since there are no real villains, and the cutesy dialogue quickly becomes grating. However, the novel has been optioned for a film and will likely attract readers who enjoy lighthearted, frothy tales and squeaky-clean romances. Unfortunately, it lacks the warmth and appeal of other teen books turned into movies, such as Meg Cabot -s "The Princess Diaries" (HarperCollins, 2000) and Ann Brashares -s "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" (Delacorte, 2001)." -Miranda Doyle, San Francisco Public Library"

Copyright 2006 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.