Until it Gets Its Talons in You

Adolescence should be a time for freedom, rebellion, and learning about who you are, but if you are part of Talon, your life is never yours. In the first book of Julie Kagawa's new series, Talon, a unique young woman fights rules and restrictions like every young teen, except she is the furthest from a normal teenager as one could be. 

Ember Hill is unique. She has a brother. It is very rare for a dragon to have a sibling hatched alongside them. Dante is her best friend, but not only because they have been hidden away by a secret dragon society for most of their hatchling years. She trusts Dante completely. Now she and Dante are being moved to California to learn to assimilate with the humans so they can eventually live among them without detection once they are trained for their careers in Talon. Talon understands that if humans knew about the dragons, they would hunt them to extinction, so they protect their hatchlings and their way of life. Although they haven't been able to keep their existence a secret from everyone. An equally secret order of humans called St. George lives and dies by hunting dragons. They know they have to do away with female dragons and hatchlings to keep the next generation from taking over the world. All this is important to Ember, obviously, but what she really wants is one summer of freedom and "normalcy" for a girl her age at the beach. Unfortunately, her summer, like her life, is anything but normal. 

Ember and Dante's human guardians have strict rules, but it doesn't mean they aren't allowed to have some fun. Ember loves her freedom as much as she loves the beach and surfing. Since she isn't allowed to fly under any circumstances while she is off Talon controlled property, surfing is the closest she can come to that feeling of exhilaration. When she meets a boy named Garrett, she can't help but be drawn to him, even if her inner dragon is screaming at her to run away. But Garrett has a secret, too. As an elite member of St. George, he has been sent to California to find the new hatchling their sources say has been infiltrating the town. He suspects Ember, but he has always known dragons don't have siblings. That, among other St. George facts, might be completely wrong. For Ember, everything she knew about Talon might be wrong as well. This is a story about two young adults who come from opposite ends of an ancient war who really know nothing about the sides they have been born into fighting for. 

I really love Julie Kagawa's books. I still haven't read her lengthy Fae series, but her vampire series was a breath of fresh air in a genre that is stuffed with "same ole, same ole." Now she takes a dragon story and makes it fresh, new, and exciting! I loved how Ember was going through the same kinds of struggles as any teenager: boys, friends, parties, feeling stifled by rules and restrictions, etc., yet she was as different as different can be. It made her relatable yet completely interesting, and I absolutely loved it. She was even stubborn and petulant at times, just like every teen we know and love. I also loved Garrett for the same reasons. The only character who was really flat for me was Dante. I just couldn't get over how unwilling he was to even consider there might be other answers out there that contradict what Talon always told him. He was naive and unimaginative, and therefore, I found Ember's devotion to him difficult to tolerate. 

The story itself never had a dull moment, and you will find yourself questioning everything right alongside Ember. She is inquisitive and skeptical, and I think a lot of teens will really relate to her, even if she is a mythical flying reptile! Kagawa has done it again with this story, giving readers an exciting and thrilling story that when it ends, you will find yourself screaming, "NOOOO!" because you just want MORE! Loved it!

Say Goodbye to the Gallagher Girls

If you have followed the Gallagher Girls from their inception, you know Bex, Macey, Liz and Cammie are not your average young adults. But still, you are sad to see them go, sad to see them graduate, and secretly you hope there will be a follow up series after United We Spy that brings them all back together from their super secret government spy agencies to foil another plot to destroy the world! (Hint, Hint, Ally Carter!!). 

Everyone knows the Circle is up to no good, but when the original members of the Circle start disappearing or them and their families start showing up dead, Cammie and the girls immediately worry about Zach and Preston. Preston should be safe in the embassy, but the people who are after him are scarier than anyone had imagined. But the government wants Preston and his father more than the people who are offing the circle. The girls insist Preston doesn't know anything about his father's business in the Circle, but no one wants to believe a young girl. Even if that girl is a Gallagher Girl.

When Cammie witnesses just how far the reach of this group killing off the Circle can be, and almost becomes collateral damage, the girls realize something bigger is afoot. But the scariest part of it all is that Liz, the brainchild of the group, may have set in motion the most terrifying series of events the world has ever seen. Now the girls have to figure out the connection of this secret group, the Circle, and the world atrocities that are pushing dangerous nations into World War III. But how can four girls figure this all out and stop the events from happening? Well, your first mistake is underestimating a Gallagher Girl!

This series started out as your basic Middle Reader. Fun, playful, and silly, it wasn't the most serious of series, but it was darned enjoyable! But then the series started to grow. It got darker, more serious, and the Gallagher girls matured with their readers. And finally we land in this finale, ready and waiting for the girls to graduate and simultaneously foil a plot to start WWIII. It was so perfect, so exciting, I can't believe I have to say good bye to the Gallagher Girls! I can only hope we can convince Ally Carter to start pumping out some "New Adult" Gallagher Girls stories about their adventures in their agencies so we don't have to lose them from our lives!

But the important thing about this series is the absolutely empowering message it sends to girls everywhere. You want to be a spy? Do it! You are brilliant at deciphering codes? You can do it! You are so smart you stump the people around you? Don't hide it to impress some stupid boy who should be attracted to your smarts, not intimidated by them. Use them! Be proud of them! I love the message this series sends to middle readers and young adult girls alike. It tells them there is nothing they can't do, even become a spy! And it really is a message we need to send to our young women. How many girls don't raise their hands because they are afraid their peers will catch onto how smart they are? How many don't join the science club or the math club because they will be made fun of for being a nerd? If we want more women to take charge in these typically male dominated fields, then we have to start right here. We have to be like Ally Carter who tells her readers, "I believe in you!" *climbs off her soapbox* Thank you, Ms. Carter! 

WE WANT MORE!

The Gallagher Girls like the fact that you wouldn't believe a bunch of young women were really spies. In fact, they count on it. The group of career criminals, jewel thieves, and con artists who count Kat Bishop among their ranks count on the same thing- to you, they are just another group of teens, not master thieves who can break into the most highly secured art museums in the world. In Double Crossed, Ally Carter brings together the spies and the thieves for one action-packed, doubly brilliant short story. 

Macey McHenry is the senator's daughter, but no one would expect she was also a trained Gallagher Girl. W. W. Hale V is the heir to a fortune you wouldn't believe, but really he just loves a good con. Neither knows the true nature of the other, and there is nothing worse than underestimating your opponent... or in this case, your ally. When, at a high society function, men armed to the teeth hold everyone hostage, it doesn't take Hale and Macey long to realize they have no intention of bagging the wallets and jewels and running. They want something bigger. But that bigger is hidden inside an impenetrable safe. How can two teens save a room full of people? If you have to ask, you don't know Hale or the Gallagher Girls!

OK, first, I must take a moment to BEG Carter to start a new series that brings these two groups together. Come ON! Give me a cross-over series! This was such a TEASE! It was a fabulous way to bring the two groups together and truly showcased ALL their talents. I love the fact that the Gallagher Girls are typically on the "good side" and jewel thief is considered "bad" (although these guys specialize in returning goods that have been misappropriated to their rightful owners). Yet when they come together, especially cool guy Hale and sassy Macey, it was magic! I loved this, and if you have read the two series, you should check this out. If you haven't, I have one thing to say to you- What are you WAITING for!!

Spy-A-Licious

Your teen years are formidable. It seems like you will barely survive, but you eke out the other side relatively unscathed and tougher for the challenge. But what if you were raised by international spies, a lock picking, safe cracking prodigy (given Master Locks to play with and crack as a toddler), and had never gone to school, gone to a dance, or even kissed a boy? In Also Known As by Robin Benway, Maggie is up for her first official case for the group of Good Guy Spies they work for: going to high school and fitting in!

When news of a journalist writing an article about the group of spies her family works for, thereby blowing their cover, is released, Maggie is given her first job: infiltrate the high school of the journalist's son and get the evidence for the story back. This job is even more important than the other "do-good" jobs Maggie has been a part of before, because now her family's safety is in jeopardy. Even though the group of spies only work their magic for good, stopping bad guys, toppling evil, and returning items to those good people who they were taken from, she is still a spy, complete with aliases and multiple passports. Infiltrating a high school sounds relatively harmless, unless you have ever been a new kid before. Then you know just how treacherous this assignment really was. Terrifying in fact.

To make matters worse, Jesse Oliver, the mark, is a popular bad-boy. Maggie knows she has no chance of getting to him without an in, so she makes friends with an eccentric former Queen Bee named Roux.  While Roux is currently a social-outcast, she still makes for a good in to Jesse Oliver's Halloween party. But after the party, Maggie realizes there is more to Jesse Oliver (she likes to say his full name!) than Maggie had expected. As she gets closer to him, she realizes she doesn't want him to just be a mark. But that would be breaking the cardinal rule for a spy: never get too close.

This was a fun, somewhat young, spy story, much in the same vein as Ally Carter's Gallagher Girls series. Maggie was a typical teenager, complete with sarcasm, snark, and a desire to be kissed by a cute boy, but it was her entourage that was the most fun. You find yourself really liking Jesse Oliver, and Roux is hilarious. I like the fact that Roux was a former-Queen Bee, fallen from her throne. It made her so much more interesting, and her hilarious rambling diatribes were so much fun! When she came face to face with Angelo, the family's spy friend, I thought I was going to die! Too funny!

But this is a rather young story. It would be good for any young reader transitioning from Middle Readers to YA. The cover screams girl book, but if you can get a boy to read it, I can see them being equally entertained, especially since Maggie isn't terribly "girly". The spy stuff isn't terribly dangerous, but made for a fun read. I am looking forward to the sequel to this story to see what happens to everyone!

Remember the Gallagher Girls?

Cammie Morgan hasn't had the most normal childhood. It doesn't help that she grew up attending a school  for spies, but the real hardship is her father's disappearance. When a covert group called the Circle of Cavan attacks Cammie, she made a huge decision: her friends and family would never be safe with the Circle after her. The only way to keep them safe was to leave the Gallagher Academy. In Ally Carters fifth Gallgher Girls book, Out of Sight, Out of Time, we see Cammie grappling with the consequences of that decision.


Cammie wakes up in a convent in the Alps with no idea of how she got there. Even worse, she finds out she has been missing all summer, and she has no memories of anything since she left the school. She calls her mother and Aunt who come to get her and bring her back to the school, but her loss of memories isn't the only thing plaguing Cammie: the Circle is still out there and they aren't going to rest until they get what they want from her. 


Despite everyone's insistence that she not try to recover her memories, Cammie needs to know what happened in the months she lost. No one at the school trusts her anymore, even her own mother and friends. She starts losing time and doing things unconsciously, like putting together an assault rifle without even knowing how she learned to do so. The only thing Cammie can be sure of anymore is that the memories of summer hold huge secrets, and she isn't afraid to go digging.


This middle reader series has seriously grown up since its first book. This book is the most adult book, in terms of seriousness, not inappropriate content, so far. It really gets to the scary and ugly side of being a spy, which is something that has been sort of glossed over so far. The evolution of Cammie is pretty impressive, and I think readers can grow up along side her character. She has made great sacrifices to protect her friends and family, but the idea that those people would literally put themselves in grave danger to protect her is the most comforting and scariest thought Cammie has ever had. But that is what people who love you do!


This started out a middle reader series, and while still appropriate for middle readers, it is also great for any kid who has transitioned more into the young adult age group but still read the early books in the series. They won't be disappointed as the story gets darker and more serious, and neither will you. It is a great series and although Carter claims to only have one more book planned, I hope she continues the series! 

Most Mature Book in the Series!

It is so fun to watch a series grow up with each and every installment. The Gallagher Girls series has done just that. From a silly tween series to an engaging young adult series with real characters and real problems, Only the Good Spy Young is a wonderful transformation to be a part of!

In the third book, Cammie realized it wasn't Macey McHenry the rouge spies were trying to kidnap, it was her. With this realization comes the terrifying reality that her favorite teacher, Joe Solomon, might be part of the organization that is trying to take Cammie. Now that Solomon is on the run, a new Covert Ops teacher is assigned to the Academy, but he seems only concerned with getting into Sublevel Two and what the girls know about Solomon. The most important teacher with the most important class, but he doesn't teach them anything- only presses them for any information they might be hiding. When it comes out that Solomon was somehow involved in her father's disappearance, Cammie is determined to get to the bottom of what Solomon's involvement was in her father's disappearance and her kidnapping attempts. The only way she can really get the information, however, is by learning more about her friend Zach from Blackthorne and with the help of her faithful friends, Bex, Liz, and Macey.

This fourth book was much more serious. The girls are now in real danger at the hand of the secret society that is after Cammie. The fact that the rouge spies shot and nearly killed her Aunt Abby at the end of the third book makes this story line all the more serious. And with more serious danger comes a more thrilling story. The nicest part of this series is the fact that the books are short, and won't overwhelm a reluctant reader, but they will grow with the reader, pushing them to more mature stories and reading levels. This story ends with a little bit of a cliffhanger, so I hope Ally Carter pulls another Gallagher Girls story out soon!

Fun Series Gets More Serious

Back with the third installment of the Gallagher Girls series, Ally Carter lets the series grow and mature with her readers. Don't Judge a Girl by Her Cover might still have a silly title, but this story just got a lot more grown up!

As Cammie and her friends, Bex, Liz and Macey, begin the next semester at the Gallagher Academy, it becomes very clear this year is going to be like no other. When Cammie goes to visit Macey on her father's campaign trail, they are attacked on the roof of campaign headquarters. Cammie, in full spy mode, manages to save the son of Macey's dad's running mate, but these spies are good. Since she clearly can't fight them off after Macey is injured, she spots a vent and stuffs Macey down before quickly following.

It becomes quickly obvious that the Gallagher Academy has more than just Covert Ops training to worry about this year. When Cammie's Aunt Abby is assigned to Macey as her Secret Service detail, the girls learn a lot more about Cammie's family, but have no idea who is after Macey. Now they must protect their friend while still searching for the really dangerous spies that are after her.

This installment of the series got much more mature than the first two. The girls are still going to school and dealing with typical teenage girl stuff, but the threat against Macey is very real. This time, they won't just fail their Covert Ops assignment if they mess up, they will lose their best friend to a very real danger. It makes the story much more high stakes, and you get to see the girls in real action. More information about her father also makes Cammie's character a lot more real and multidimensional. The reading level still remains pleasantly low while the story is still fun, making this a great series for a low-skilled older student. This series can grow with the student as the story gets more sophisticated!

Another Cheesy Title and Another Cute Book!

I guess we don't learn from our mistakes, Ally Carter! Cheesy titles are NOT your best friend! I guess as long as you continue writing cute, fun books, I will ignore your silly titles and goofy covers. But please strive for "witty" next time, not "campy"!

The Gallagher Girls series continues with more of Cammie Morgan and the other young spies in training. It begins with her CIA brief about her security breaches last semester when she broke all protocols and rules by sneaking out of Gallagher to date a local boy. Now she has been forced to break up with Josh, and he has had his memory wiped with Cammie's mother's special tea. While Cammie still thinks about Josh all the time, she has bigger issues on her plate when Gallagher opens its doors to the boys of Blackthorne. Blackthorne is the male, much more sinister counterpart to Gallagher, and the two schools have merged briefly to give them a chance to get to know people they will be working with once they graduate. But something doesn't add up...

Since the boys arrived, odd things have been happening. First a Code Black occurs during a ball they have in the mansion as one of their finals (they all have aliases they must stick to). No one knows where the outside breach occurred for a Code Black, but Cammie is suspicious of the Blackthorne guy named Zach who she sees in the hallway just as the alarm is thrown. And Zach is definitely hiding something, in between his attempts to drive Cammie crazy! With the Gallagher Girls half stunned by their sudden exposure to boys (mornings get much more hectic with all the makeup and outfit changes!) and half suspicious by the sneaky Blackthornes, this is another fun and intriguing story in the Gallagher mansion!

The story and characters were interesting and kept the brief story alive. As with the first story, there is nothing inappropriate in this story for a young reader, but it might be too immature for an older, low-skilled reader. This is best kept for middle school students. But the world in the Gallagher mansion gets more and more exciting with each book!

Don't Let the Cheesy Title and Cover Fool You

It is so sad when horrible titles and silly covers happen to good books. After reading Heist Society, by Ally Carter, (another stupid title) I knew to look past the packaging with her Gallagher Girls series and give it a shot. But I am not going to lie, I never would have picked up a book called I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You... not without previous knowledge of the author's story telling prowess!

Cammie Morgan is a Gallagher Academy legacy, and her mother is the headmistress, but she is another kind of legacy, too. Both Cammie's parents were spies. In fact, the Gallagher Academy is a school for teen girl spies-in-training. The town where Gallagher Academy resides, however, thinks the Academy is for over-privileged rich girls. The girls' first mission is to keep the deep cover of the school and remember their legends (back stories) with the rest of the town.

On a routine Covert Ops assignment (tail an untailable faculty member), Cammie is noticed by a local boy. This wouldn't be so unnerving if Cammie wasn't considered the best "pavement artist" at the Academy. She is able to go completely unnoticed and blend into the background in any situation... so how did Josh see her? With a hilarious troupe of misfit young female spies, Cammie and her genius friends begin Covert Ops on Josh to make sure he isn't a Honey Pot (a person using attraction to derail a spy). But Cammie's star-crossed interest in Josh could lead to more trouble than they bargained for!

The first installment of the Gallagher Girls Series is really fun! It isn't the deepest story, or have some important lesson to be learned, but instead is just some good, wholesome, PG-13 rated fun! I can understand the critics of the series who are worried about the "action" of the story, but it is important to remember these girls are 15-16 years old. There isn't any real spy trouble at the academy (although I predict it might appear later in the series) because these are young girls in training. But the fun, silly happenings are still enough to keep a reader engaged and laughing.

The reading level is fairly low, the content is very, very mild, and the story is lots of fun. This is the perfect book for early middle school. I would recommend this for a wide range of students (although I don't think it would appeal to boys), including high skilled 4th graders all the way to 9th grade. It might even be suitable for a low-skilled 10-12th grader, but only if they are a little more immature than their peers. I can imagine this series might be too young for most older students. But if you find the right girl to read this series, you are going to have a happy reader!