April 1, 2014
Internal dissension, security leaks and attacks from a much larger rival add up to disaster for the orphanage-cum-spy school introduced in Playing with Fire (2013). The Merry Sunshine Orphanage, now the school for Systematic Protection, Intelligence & Espionage Services, can't catch a break. Money is tight, a nosy inspector from the Ministry of Health is threatening to close the facility down, and LOTUS, the school's huge and well-heeled nemesis, is somehow finding out about and spoiling every mission. The prospect of more foster-home misery is a downer for lead spy kid Max, but that's not all. He's not only subject to constant put-downs from bullying schoolmate Nikki, but also tortured by conflicting feelings for his father, a spy who disappeared years ago but is now repeatedly popping into view at inconvenient times to deliver vague pleas or warnings. Hale is usually good at keeping things light, but here, the banter just comes off as bickering, and the jokes fall flat. So does the plot, which strings together lengthy chases with labored Mission Impossible-style exploits, features a "mole" whose identity is obvious from the outset and ends with a cliffhanger that doesn't feel earned. Where's Chet Gecko when you need him? Joyless, juiceless, predictable. (Thriller. 11-13)
COPYRIGHT(2014) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
August 1, 2014
Gr 4-7-In this follow-up to Playing with Fire (Disney-Hyperion, 2013), Max Segredo and his crew at the Merry Sunshine Orphanage (aka the School for S.P.I.E.S.) are battling against the evil LOTUS operation, which is trying to shut them down. When the S.P.I.E.S. are hired by a mysterious billionaire to steal a mind-control device, it may be their only hope of saving the school.
Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
July 1, 2014
Max Segredo and his classmates at School for S.P.I.E.S.--a.k.a. Merry Sunshine Orphanage--come to the rescue when competition from enemy spy organization LOTUS and a Ministry of Health audit threaten to close the school for good. Tweens with a passion for espionage (and an ability to suspend disbelief) will love this fast-paced adventure story.
(Copyright 2014 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)