In this fifth installment in the New York Times bestselling series from Edgar Award winner James Ponti, the young group of spies take on New York City in another international adventure perfect for fans of Spy School and Mrs. Smith’s Spy School for Girls.
The City Spies head to the Big Apple when a credible threat is made to a young climate activist who is scheduled to speak in front of the upcoming United Nations General Assembly. With Rio acting as alpha and a new member in their ranks, the team’s mission to protect a fellow teen takes them on an exciting adventure in, around, and even under the greatest city in the world as they follow leads to the outer boroughs, the UN Headquarters, and even the usually off-limits stacks that extend deep under the main branch of the New York Public Library.
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.
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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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