Module 9: The Agency: A Spy in the House

The Agency: A Spy in the House by Y.S. Lee

 

Summary:  A Spy in the House is set in Victorian London, where we first meet the main character, twelve- year-old Mary Quinn, who is about to be hung at the gallows.  When Mary is miraculously rescued, she is taken to an academy for girls.  Fast forward five years, and Mary is now seventeen, and is being trained (much to her delight) to be a secret investigator.  She ends up working on her first case, in a wealthy merchants house, disguised as a lady's companion, spying on a man suspected of both fraud and smuggling.  While there, she meets an intriguing gentleman named James, and together than try to uncover a mystery which involves disguises, late night break-in's, and danger.  

APA Reference: Lee, Y. S. (2010). The agency: A spy in the house. Somerville, MA: Candlewich Press.

Impressions:  I read all 335 pages of this book in one day, if that says anything.  Although it is set in Victorian London, the pace is fast,  the characters are intriguing, and the book is very reminiscent of a cross between both Pride and Prejudice and Sherlock Holmes.  Mary Quinn is a strong-willed protagonist,  and the relationship she has with James is comical from the beginning when they accidentally meet in a dark closet, while they are both spying on the same person. James is somewhat arrogant, and Mary is feisty enough that they end up having several amusing sparring matches, while trying not to like each other.  The London atmosphere is also intriguing, and allows the reader a somewhat historical look at poverty, women's rights, and the geographical features of Victorian London.  Lucky for readers, there are also two other books in this series.  
 

Professional Review: 
Set in the richly described underbelly of Victorian London, Lee's debut novel launching the Agency trilogy introduces feisty Mary Quinn. At the 11th hour, 12-year-old Mary is rescued from hanging (for thievery) and taken to Miss Scrimshaw's Academy for Girls, a school doubling as a secret training ground for female private detectives. When Mary turns 17, she is selected for a case requiring her to spy on a wealthy merchant by serving as a companion to his spoiled, petulant daughter, Angelica Thorold. Mr. Thorold is suspected of pirating valuable artifacts from India, and it turns out that James Easton, the younger brother of one of Angelica's suitors, is on Thorold's trail as well. Through the many and somewhat contrived plot twists, Mary's skills are tested; she prevails with Easton's help and attentions, partly belying the story's feminist tenor. A subplot revolves around a family secret Mary tries to keep buried. If cultural issues at times feel like they are being addressed with a modern sensibility, Mary's lively escapades, on the whole, will hold readers' attention and whet their interest for the next installment. Ages 12-up. 

[Review of the book A spy in the house, by Y. S. Lee]. (2010, February 01). Publishers weekly, 257(5), 51. Retrieved from http://www.publishersweekly.com/


Library Uses: Introduce at a teen mystery program, or put on a mystery display geared to all ages. Use this book for a teen book club group, and have them solve their own murder mystery as a follow-up activity.

Module 8: Cosmic

Cosmic by Frank Cottrell Boyce

 

Summary:  Liam Digby may be the first twelve-year-old, who looks more like a thirty-year-old to ever go into space.  Liam loves amusement parks and fast rides so much, that he decides to enter a contest to try to win tickets to a new amusement park with one of the fastest rides in the world called, The Rocket.  When Liam wins the tickets and realizes his dad will never let him go, he decides to go disguised as a dad, with a classmate posing as his twelve-year-old daughter.  When Liam reaches the amusement park, he finds out that The Rocket ride is actually a real rocket, which will make an orbit into outer-space.  As Liam works to be the only dad to accompany the kids on the rocket, he finds out that is harder than he thought to be a dad. 

APA Reference: Boyce, F. C. (2008). Cosmic. New York, NY: Harper Collins.

Impressions:  It seems like good science fiction books that aren't about divergent societies, aliens, or Star Wars are somewhat hard to come by these days.  Cosmic is a great science fiction book for a child looking for more of a humorous, almost realistic feeling Sci-Fi book.  It will give them a glimpse of what it would be like to be big, and perhaps even more importantly what it would be like to be a parent.  Since Liam looks like an adult, he gets to do some things many kids can only dream about, like ride the adult rides at amusement parks, enter contests that are only for adults, and even (almost) test drive a Porsche.  Along with the fun though, Liam realizes that he also has to be more responsible, by showing he can handle disciplining and chaperoning children, helping them when they are disappointed, and most importantly figuring out what to do when they accidentally break the spaceship. 

Cosmic is even more enjoyable because of the somewhat sarcastic humor which is found throughout the book.  Liam observes it would be much better to be on earth, since all his "stuff" is there.  His new principal tries to kick him out of class because he is too old, and
when Liam tries to play golf, he decides it is just easier to chip his ball into the golf cart for a ride to the green rather than to play the same way as the other adults.  

Professional Review:

Twelve-year-old Liam Digby is Completely Doomed. He's lost in outer space, incommunicado, in a Chinese spacecraft called Infinite Possibility. To further complicate matters, he's an imposter: a tall-for-his-age kid with premature facial hair pretending to be a dad so he could participate in the secret civilian space flight in the first place--a Charlie and the Chocolate Factory--style contest in which the winning children get to go on the ultimate thrill ride, an actual rocket. The good news is, the view is amazing: "When you're in it, space looks like the biggest firework display ever--except it's on pause.... Even if you're Completely Doomed, you've got to be impressed." On the heels of the Carnegie Medal--winning Millions (2004) and Framed (2006), Cottrell Boyce has created a riveting, affecting, sometimes snortingly funny "what-if" scenario that illuminates the realities of space travel as it thoughtfully examines the nature of adulthood. Liam's musings on what it takes to be a good, responsible father are dryly comical but also charmingly earnest. A high-levity zero-gravity romp. (Science fiction. 10-14) 

[Review of the book Cosmic, by F. B. Cottrell]. (2009, December 01). Kirkus reviews, 52, 320.  Retrieved from https://www.kirkusreviews.com/

Library Uses:  Present this book during a space program, along with other books which have to do with space.  Rent the equipment so that the kids in the program can build their own rockets, and shoot them up hundreds of feet in the air, or invite an astronomer to do a presentation on planets, starts, and rockets.  Moon rocks (pop rocks) would be a fun treat to serve at either program.  

Module 7: Abduction

Module 7 Abduction by Peg Kehret

 

Summary: One day when six year old Matt gets a hall pass to use the restroom at school, his real dad, whom he has never met tells him he has Matt's injured dog, and tricks him into going with him.  Later, Matt's dad tells him that his mom and sister have died in a car wreck, so Matt resigns himself to living with a father who gambles, and who really isn't very nice.  In the meantime Matt's sister Bonnie is doing everything she can to find Matt.  She happens upon him accidentally at a baseball game, but finds herself in danger too when she fails to free Matt, and gets captured instead. 
 
APA Reference: Kehret, P. (2006). Abduction. New York, NY: Penguin Books.

Impressions:  Peg Kehret is known for her suspense stories, and this one doesn't disappoint. Having experienced what it is like first hand to have a missing child for almost a week, this book is actually fairly realistic, including how the Amber Alert is used, and how someone would react if their brother were taken.  I did however think that  Matt and Bonnie's mom stayed out of the picture too much.  If I were her I would have been spending a lot more time and energy looking for my son.  The book provides a good avenue to talk about safety with kids; and the dangers of being tricked into going with someone unknown.  Because of the somewhat scary and realistic topic, I would not recommend it to children who are scared easily. It would however be a good book for anyone who enjoys a suspenseful and somewhat scary read.  

Professional Review:
Gr. 4-7. When 13-year-old Bonnie's younger brother and dog disappear, she and her mother experience all the fear, police attention, and media notoriety that often results from such tragedies. Meanwhile, six-year-old Matt is held captive by Denny, his bad-tempered father whom he has never met. Denny cruelly tells Matt that his mother and sister are dead, so the boy abandons hope. The coincidence of Bonnie's spotting Matt at a Mariners game leads to an exciting, movie-style climax. This quick read, which accurately reflects that most missing children are either abducted by relatives or run away, effectively builds suspense as the police make progress and Matt grows increasingly afraid of his gun-toting father. The fact that the characters are largely one-dimensional, especially the villainous Denny, mutes the emotional angst readers might have felt, leaving them free to enjoy the plot-driven thriller with a happy ending.

Odean, K. (2004, November). [Review of the book Abduction, by P. Kehret]. The booklist, 101, 485. Retrieved from http://www.booklistonline.com/


Library Uses: Present this book in a program about family safety where local community safety officers are in attendance.  This might include policemen, firemen, and even EMT's, who could teach the people in attendance how to be safe.  Because the cover looks spooky, this book would also make a great addition to a Halloween display which could include scary and suspenseful books. 
 

Module 7: Rules

Rules by Cynthia Lord

 

Summary: Rules is a Newbery Honor book about a girl name Catherine, who has an autistic brother named David.   Catherine struggles with her feelings about having an autistic brother, and how to deal with him when he is around her friends.  When Catherine goes with her mother to take David to his therapy appointments, she meets another boy named Jason who is a paraplegic.  As Catherine gets to know Jason, she starts to add new word cards to his communication board so that he can communicate more effectively.  Gradually Catherine and Jason become friends, and Catherine finds out that even though she is helping him, he is also helping her to cope with having an autistic brother and her feelings about people with disabilities.

 

APA Reference:  Lord, C. (2008). Rules. New York, NY: Scholastic.

Impressions: Wow!  Not only is Rules a very heartwarming book, but with the ever growing number of disabled people in the world, it is an amazing inside story that can help people not only to understand autism, but to take a look at the way they treat people with disabilities.  As the book progresses, the reader learns many traits of autistic people from David.  David sticks toys in the fish tank, he gets upset if people aren't on time, or if his plans are changed, and he does not like loud noises.  The book also can help kids who may have a disabled member in their family realize that they are not alone, and that some of the feelings they have may be normal.  As Catherine tries to cope with the judgments of others, she learns the important lesson from her mom that, "Just because other people think something, that doesn't make it true" (p. 179).  This book would be a great choice for a community reads book!

Professional Review:

Gr. 4-7. "No toys in the fish tank" is one of many rules that 12-year-old Catherine shares with her autistic younger brother, David, to help him understand his world. Lots of the rules are practical. Others are more subtle and shed light on issues in Catherine's own life. Torn between love for her brother and impatience with the responsibilities and embarrassment he brings, she strives to be on her parents' radar and to establish an identity of her own. At her brother's clinic, Catherine befriends a wheelchair-bound boy, Jason, who talks by pointing at word cards in a communication notebook. Her drawing skills and additional vocabulary cards-including "whatever" (which prompts Jason to roll his eyes at his mother)-enliven his speech. The details of autistic behavior are handled well, as are depictions of relationships: Catherine experiences some of the same unease with Jason that others do in the presence of her brother. In the end, Jason helps Catherine see that her rules may really be excuses, opening the way for her to look at things differently. A heartwarming first novel. -Cindy Dobrez


Dobrez, C. (2006, February 15). [Review of the book Rules, by C. Lord]. The booklist, 102, 98-99. Retrieved from http://www.booklistonline.com/

Library Uses:
Host a youth book club using this book.  Talk about people with disabilities and how we should react around them.  Play some communication games where the participants can't talk, such as Telestrations (this is like the telephone game sketched out), or Morphology (a game where you make words out of objects).  Make hamster treats out of Twinkies in honor of David's pet hamster.