SPY TO THE RESCUE

During her attempt to save her father, a teen spy uncovers an assassination plot.

Life has returned—depressingly—to normal for 13-year-old Bridget in the second installment of Bernstein’s teen spy series (Spy-in-Training, 2015). Her birth father, Carter Strike, refuses to discuss his former spy life or to continue her training. When Strike mysteriously disappears, Bridget fabricates a weekend trip to visit her best friend, Joanna, in New York City to rescue her father. Her plans become complicated when her older brother and his girlfriend are conscripted as her chaperones. She tracks Strike to a famous (fictional) building and discovers a figure from their past. She also learns about an assassination attempt on the teenage son of a high-ranking official from the (also-fictional) country of Trezekhastan. When her friends and brother are unwittingly pulled into her adventure, they rally to help stop an international war. Bernstein’s heroine has grown more confident, more adventurous, and, thankfully, more likable. Bridget adapts quickly to the many obstacles and villains thrown her way in the book’s rapid-fire action scenes. While action sequences still require a major suspension of disbelief, readers will love Bridget’s quips and quick-thinking moves.

Over-the-top action that will keep readers turning pages.