Spy School Book 2 Spy Camp

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Spy School Book 2  Spy Camp

Book Information

Category
Humor
Reader Personality Type
Publisher
Simon and Schuster April 2014
Year Published
2014
  • 08-10 Middle Readers
  • 11-13 Older Readers
  • Action / Adventure
  • Humor

After a hectic and dangerous semester at the Academy, Ben wants a relaxing summer, but CIA spies-in-training must go to a special summer camp - survival training there will be the least of his worries!

The good news is that Erica will also be at camp (he wouldn't have made it through that first semester without her); the bad news is that the villains are still after Ben and have offered him a job. Like the 13-year-old would really sell out his country for some ultra-secret gadgetry - no way! But how are the messages getting into the top-secret camp, right under the undercover instructors' noses?

Oof! The British foreign exchange students aren't pulling any punches during training maneuvers. Bam! Those explosives are hitting so close to the camp bus - this training exercise is amazingly realistic! Kapow! There goes the bridge? Uh-oh... there must be a double-agent among the campers.

Ben and Erica are chased, shot at, and lied to by enemy agents, their camp buddies, and folks they trusted during their wet, cold, hungry, hot trek through the wilderness. This isn't just practice any more - it's now life and death and mortal peril for the United States!

Can Ben and Erica escape their pursuers?
Who's the double-agent, and what do they want from Ben?
Why doesn't anyone believe that he's not a super-spy?

For fans of action, adventure, and crazy stuff happening (like Ben's time at Spy School), a summer at Spy Camp is just what the CIA ordered.

Recommended by: Katy Manck, Librarian-at-Large (retired academic/corporate/school librarian), Gilmer, Texas, USA – blogging young adult books beyond the bestsellers at https://BooksYALove.com
+++++

Cleverly comedic, Spy Camp is a laugh-out-loud boisterous romp!  Ben Ripley, aka Smokescreen,  is thrilled that his first year of spy school is almost over. He's looking forward to hanging with his buddy Mike, but SPYDER, an enemy espionage organization, has other plans for Ben. Someone leaves a cryptic message in Ben's dorm--that SPYDER is coming for Ben. He doesn't know where to turn, but he does know that Erica, the best spy in school, will have his back.

The principal calls Ben to the office to inform him that he will have to attend spy camp during the summer. Spy camp? What about Ben's plans to chill for a few months? This ruins his plans for the summer, but spy camp looks promising...at least at first. Maybe Ben will be safe from SPYDER at camp.

Ben's spy school classmates attend spy camp along with some exchange students from England. The camp looks normal with cabins and a mess hall, but instead of swimming and canoeing, training consists of physical training including tedious runs and weapons training includes bow and arrow and tomahawks. SPYDER has infiltrated the camp and threatens Ben--he must agree to work for them, or else! Ben shares this information with Erica and camp-mates Chip, Zoe, and Warren. Erica's famous spy father Alexander Hale "drops" in to save the day. Pun intended--Hale parachutes into the camp wearing a tuxedo and dripping with 007 worthy attitude. Erica and Ben both  know that her father is a blatant failure and a phony. Alexander Hale is a bumbling idiot who takes credit for saving every operation he's ever been involved in, even when the credit is due to someone else. Because of his unsoiled reputation as a world class spy, Hale receives hero status and the kids at camp regard him as a Bond-like legend.

When it's decided to move Ben from the camp, his friends go along for the bus ride. Alex Hale accompanies the kids. SPYDER targets their escape and if not for Erica's grandfather, Ben would be a prisoner. Cyrus Hale saves the day and comes out of retirement for his granddaughter. SPYDER has secret plans which involve Cyrus, and the no one else has any idea that SPYDER is merely using Ben as a pawn.

Ben is funny and self-deprecating. He makes fun of the CIA, spy school and the government. Ben says, "It might seem surprising that the principal of the CIA's academy for future intelligent agents wasn't intelligent himself--but then, the CIA and the academy are run by the government." Of his spy school experience, Ben says, "While my first few weeks at spy school had been difficult--I'd nearly been assassinated, kidnapped and blown up--things had got much better after people had stopped trying to kill me." At camp, Ben finds out that the armory is a bit different than the one at his school. Instead of modern day guns, campers train with tomahawks and bows and arrows. Ben asks, "So we can defend ourselves if we ever time travel back to the 1700s?"

Smart and fast-paced, Spy Camp does not disappoint. Readers do not have to read Spy School first, but do yourself a favor, pick up both books; you'll be glad you did! Author Stuart Gibbs has another winner on his hands. Ben makes spying look like great fun, and even in dire situations, Ben has the presence of mind to solve problems without overthinking them.

336 pages   978-1442457539   Ages 9 -12  Highly, highly recommended grade 4-up and anyone who likes spies and humor! by:  Pamela Thompson, Librarian, Texas USA

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