by James Ponti
First published 2021
Sara Martinez sits in juvenile detention facing years behind bars. Her crime was hacking into New York City's foster care system to expose her crooked foster parents. The courts banned her from computers and labeled her a criminal instead of a hero. Then Mother appears. This legendary British spy offers Sara freedom and a new life with MI6's secret program. Sara finds herself living in a Scottish castle with four other kids from around the world. Brooklyn, Paris, Sydney, Rio, and Kat take their codenames from their hometowns. They attend prep school by day and train as spies under Mother and a brilliant scientist who mixes Marie Curie with Mary Poppins. Sara's first mission throws her into danger in Paris. She hacks rival computers, dangles thirty feet off buildings, and races to stop a villain from releasing deadly virus through air conditioning systems. Between the high tech gadgets and old school spy techniques, Sara must learn to trust her new teammates and find her place in this unlikely family.
Genres: adventure, mystery, contemporary, action, young-adult, espionage
Vibes: fast-paced, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, underdog
Setting: New York City, Paris, Scotland
Period: 21st-century
400 pages · Paperback · Aladdin Paperbacks