Back to School

Let me just be honest.  Spy School Goes South is a great book.  It is the sixth in the series and I love Gibbs.  But this probably would have been a 4 for me, just because I am not into the international stuff, but then Gibbs's author's note at the end made this a 5 star book for sure.  

I was saddned to hear the dedication, however as I learned that Gibbs's wife, a very talented television executive died in March of this year.  Take a moment to read about her if you didn't know, if you are like me and still live in the 1950s.  She was very accomplished but I am sure even more importantly, she was beloved by Mr. Gibbs and her family and friends.  Many prayers and thoughts are with him.  

Spy vs. Spy

Spy School Secret Service is the fifth in the Spy School series and I feel like the pacing was JUST right for me as far as my weird tastes are concerned.  If you are the kind person who enjoys stories in which the hero is falsely accused for there is a case of mistaken identity and the majority of the book or movie is all about the person proving innocence, then we are not a like.  This stuff just drives me crazy!  I feel so bad for the person.  I can like the book or movie, but I have to skip to the end to make sure it all turns out okay!  But basically, I don't enjoy the experience at all.  I thought this was going to go down that way.  But I love Erica Hale and I love Stuart Gibbs and I love this series!  So all was okay! 

Fourth and Waiting

I have caught up on the Spy School series with Spy Ski School and enjoyed it very much.  It is neat to see the family dynamics changing among the Hales.  I really don't like the old man at all, by the way.  Liking this series as I do and the Moon Base Alpha one, I really wish that first book in the Fun Jungle series was available on audio!  Great series!

I Noticed

that I gave four stars to Spy School and five stars to both Spy Camp and Evil Spy School.  I think it might be because I was impressed by the way that the story was easy to pick up, without the first books being over rehashed and also the story still stayed fresh and interesting!  In any case, I am looking forward to Spy Ski School! 

Swears

There is one "swear word" in Spy School that I know would cause trouble if my place of work were to choose this as a book for one of our programs.  It's the a_s word.  Why didn't Gibbs just use "butt!"  I mean I wasn't offended by it, but I know that some caregivers don't want their kids to use a_s in regular conversation.  Granted, no one is calling anyone an a_s in here, it is just used to say were Ben landed when he fell!  So it would have been all the same to just say "butt" but it probably isn't as bad as if Ben had called someone an a_s. That said, I liked Spy School and was glad to finally get the audio, having already enjoyed the Moon Base Alpha series.   I will read more in the Spy series and I hope I can get a hold of an audio of the first Fun Jungle book, but there doesn't seem to be one in existence.  Oh well.  Spy School is great fun!