In this third “thrilling” (Kirkus Reviews) installment in the New York Times bestselling series from Edgar Award winner James Ponti, the young group of spies help a fellow agent in another international adventure perfect for fans of Spy School and Mrs. Smith’s Spy School for Girls.
After taking down a mole within their organization, the City Spies are ready for their next mission—once again using their unique skills and ability to infiltrate places adults can’t. The sinister Umbra has their sights set on recruiting a North Korean nuclear physicist by any means necessary, and the City Spies plan to keep an eye on his son by sending Paris to the chess prodigy’s tournaments in Moscow and Beijing.
Meanwhile, Sydney’s embedded as a junior reporter for a teen lifestyle site as she follows the daughter of a British billionaire on tour with the biggest act on her father’s music label to uncover what links both the band and the billionaire have to a recent threat from an old Soviet missile base.
From a daring break-in at one of London’s most exclusive homes to a dangerous undercover mission to a desperate search and rescue operation on the streets of Beijing, the City Spies have their work cut out for them on their most dangerous mission yet.
The series
There’s something thrilling about watching a team come together—not just any team, but one made up of kids from around the world, each with a secret past and a very particular set of skills. City Spies taps into that energy with precision, turning the idea of elite espionage on its head and handing the mission over to the most unlikely agents: teenagers.
Read full series description
Set against the backdrop of real global cities and iconic landmarks, this middle-grade spy series doesn’t just serve up high-stakes missions—it pulls readers into a world where loyalty, quick thinking, and empathy are just as essential as hacking skills or parkour. At its heart, the series follows five young recruits, each rescued from difficult circumstances and trained by a mysterious MI6 agent known only as Mother. Together, they infiltrate elite boarding schools, decode encrypted secrets, and stop threats that adults can’t even see coming.
But beneath the clever gadgets and coded messages is something more powerful: a story about found family. These kids aren’t just learning how to be spies—they’re learning how to trust again, how to lean on one another, and how to rewrite the stories they were handed. The action is pulse-pounding, but it’s the moments between missions—the quiet camaraderie, the unexpected vulnerability—that give the series its emotional gravity.
With fast-paced plots grounded in real-world settings and just enough humor to offset the tension, this series hits the sweet spot for readers who crave adventure with depth. City Spies doesn’t just entertain—it invites readers to imagine themselves as brave, brilliant, and capable of changing the world.
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