Disclosure: I received a free copy of the book from the publisher. Post contains affiliate links; if you make a purchase, I may earn commission. Opinions shared are mine.

It’s a terrific time to be a middle-grades student right now. So many good books are flooding the bookstores! City Spies by James Ponti captivates from the cover to the characters.

I loved the wittiness of the dialogue in City Spies. The story will encourage readers to think long after the final page has turned. When a book makes me want to take notes with lesson plan ideas, I know it’s a winner!

Despite the comic relief moments and gotta-love-em crew, there are some heavy issues at the forefront. Topics like foster care and”juvie” come up as part of the background. City Spies can help to open the door to tough conversations about family, child abuse, and the shady area between right and wrong. It also emphasizes the idea that each person has talents; we all have something to offer the world for the common good.

About The Book:

Title: CITY SPIES

Author: James Ponti

Pub. Date: March 10, 2020

Publisher: Aladdin

Formats: Hardcover, Paperback, audiobook

Pages: 384

Find it: Goodreads, Amazon, Kindle, Audible, B&N, iBooks, Kobo, TBD, Bookshop.org

In this new series James Ponti brings together five kids from all over the world and transforms them into real-life spies.

Sara Martinez is a hacker. She recently broke into the New York City foster care system to expose her foster parents as cheats and lawbreakers. However, instead of being hailed as a hero, Sara finds herself facing years in a juvenile detention facility and banned from using computers for the same stretch of time. Enter Mother, a British spy who not only gets Sara released from jail but also offers her a chance to make a home for herself within a secret MI6 agency.

Operating out of a base in Scotland, the City Spies are five kids from various parts of the world. When they’re not attending the local boarding school, they’re honing their unique skills, such as sleight of hand, breaking and entering, observation, and explosives. All of these allow them to go places in the world of espionage where adults can’t.

Before she knows what she’s doing, Sarah is heading to Paris for an international youth summit, hacking into a rival school’s computer to prevent them from winning a million euros, dangling thirty feet off the side of a building, and trying to stop a villain…all while navigating the complex dynamics of her new team.

No one said saving the world was easy…

About James: 

James Ponti was born in Italy, raised in Florida, and went to college in California. After receiving a degree in screenwriting from the USC Film School, he began a career writing and producing television shows for the likes of Nickelodeon, Disney Channel, PBS, Spike TV, History Channel, and Golf Channel. James loves writing, travel, and the Boston Red Sox. He lives with his family in Maitland, Florida.