Review: An excellent choice for young adults
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 05 17, 2013
If you thought The Super Spies and the Cat Lady Killer was a lovely read, wait until you read The Super Spies and the High School Bomber. As YA mysteries go, you can't do much better.In this new instalment of the Spies' adventures, things are a bit darker and much more serious. Sarah and Lacey's parents seem to have disappeared in mysterious circumstances, so they're stuck at their aunt and uncle's for the time being. When a bomb explodes during a teachers' meeting at the high school, of course our heroes feel compelled to investigate.In a way, the plot splits into two possible mysteries, only one of which is solved in this book. I have a feeling the other will form the subject of a future book, and yes, I am resigned to waiting patiently until I can read that one, too. Hurry up and write, Lisa Orchard, I need to find out what happened there.The writing style is just as easy to follow, and the dialogues are so much fun. Because of the seriousness of the crime, the FBI gets involved in the investigation, and Sarah puts her newly acquired negotiating and people skills to the test by forging a relationship with the fibbies.There's more action, more danger and more pressure for the Spies to get to the end of this mystery. The pacing is brilliant. The only thing that I would have expected was to find out what happened with the missing parents, but that would have made this book way too long. I like the way the Spies are being introduced to other people's emotions and the knowledge and understanding that comes from being aware of a different perspective on life. That is a part of every person's development at some point in their existence, and it's beautifully done here.A very good choice for young adults, even for those not in their teens yet. There's enough variety in vocabulary use to encourage a young person's development without making the story hard to understand. The overall package is a very well put-together novel, full of action and adventure, and modern enough to be appealing to young readers. A very well-deserved five stars from me, and a wholehearted recommendation.