Young Bond Series, Book 1: Silverfin

Well, guess what? James Bond had a childhood. Yep, and you get to read all about how he got his start at Eton at age 14, climbing out of the secret compartment he found to get up onto the roof to sneak over to a secret meeting by dark of night. All this sneaking leads him to some serious intrigue - we're talking life-threatening and very involved - but our friend, James, is very self-reliant. He gets in and out of some tough situations while finding the occasional female admirer along the way - just hints of that. Not as action packed as Alex Ryder, but certainly worthy choices if your young reader really likes 007 and loves espionage, intrigue and adventure. Sequel: Blood Fever.