Spy Ski School, an entry into one of middle school’s must-read book series

Do you have a child in middle school? If so, then they most likely know the Spy School book series by Stuart Gibbs.  Spy Ski School is the fourth in the series that includes Evil Spy School, Spy Camp and Spy School. Are you sensing a theme here? Spy Ski School continues the exploits of Ben Ripley, our 13 year old spy in training-and for the record, we do not have a kid in middle school but really liked the book.

Previously Ben has been locked up with a bomb, shot at with bullets, missiles and more, but manages to live another day. He’s in school with a group of other kids, all of whom are training to become a real spy. Despite seeing lots of action, Ben isn’t the best spy in the group. He’s got more training than his civilian friend Mike, but is certainly in the lower end of the spy pool for their specific talents.

 

One thing that Ben is very capable of doing is making friends. That, combined with his previous success in missions has led the CIA to activate Ben in a real mission for the first time. Ben, along with a group from school (spy school that is) are sent to Vail, Colorado where he’s assigned the task of making friends with a young Chinese girl, Jessica Chang.

It’s no cakewalk for Ben because Jessica is a very pretty girl and he gets nervous easily. It’s also complicated because her father is a major Chinese crime boss who is rarely seen in public, so a family vacation to Vail is highly suspect.

Fans of the Spy School series will immediately love Spy Ski School to check in on their favorite characters and see how they’re growing. Ben’s crush on Erica, the superspy, ninja-girl can-do-no-wrong is still strong and she just might like him too. Zoe, Warren, Cyrus, Alexander and a couple evil spies make an appearance too.

This was our first in the Spy School series and it was easy to follow along. It’s a bigger than usual cast for a middle school book, but each member pulls their own weight and has distinct characteristics. Kids 8-12 will get a kick out of Spy Ski School. The story of a school, just for kids where they learn to be spies is the stuff of Hogwarts that will have them playing out the action in their heads. As the main characters are teens there are also lots of sub-stories about attraction, flirting and figuring out when a girl or boy likes you.

The vocabulary in Spy Ski School is appropriate for ages 8 and up. Spy Ski School is a middle school book, with no pictures, but do not let that fact fool any reluctant readers. This is a fun, quickly paced book that will appeal almost equally to boys and girls. It’s also a monstrous success with the fifth and sixth entries in the Spy School series already slated for 2017 and 2018.