Description
With no experience or training, Cleo and Evan must rescue a top spy from a skilled criminal mastermind.

Just a few days ago, in a secret library under their school, Cleo and Evan were pulled into the story of a book. They had to live the story out to return home, and today they’re doing it again. Now, their role is as secret agents – not the best and not even accomplished, but simply the closest to the case. Armed only with a few spy gadgets, they must figure out how to find and rescue a captured top agent, all while working towards the story’s proper end so they don’t get trapped in the book.

Disclosure
I borrowed this book for free from our library system, it was provided for my personal use. There was no agreement with the author, publisher, or any third party that I would publish a review. The following review is unsolicited, unbiased, and all opinions are my own.

Review – Spoiler Free
This is advertised as appealing to 2nd -4th Graders, and being at the 3rd Grade reading level, I would read it to kids as young as 3.

I picked up this book after thoroughly enjoying reading the first in this series with out kids (read my review of The Mysterious Moonstone here), and I was not disappointed. The story starts out fast paced, and doesn’t really slow down until the end. Repeat characters are developed more as was hinted at in the first book, and more hints are dropped that they will continue to develop as the series progresses. Also, possibly difficult or new words are explained casually without breaking the story line.

One of my favorite things with this book, and with the first book too, is that Cleo and Evan are integral to the story. They are involved in the story line, make active decisions, and aren’t just taken for a ride. This is really shown in a few spots where their individual strengths (Evan’s book smarts, and Cleo’s impulsive, active reactions) are needed to solve specific problems.

Another thing that I really appreciate in this book: Evan cries. That may sound weird to like, but bear with me. It’s written as a simple fact, and the reader can understand his emotion behind it – it’s not an extreme jump for him, so it’s not written as dramatic or cheesy. I feel like this is a wonderful example of a boy’s emotions being seen and accepted instead of brushed past or made comical. Evan is a strong character; he is intelligent, funny, brave, a good friend, and he has emotions. (NOTE: I have previously written a review where I disliked a character’s crying. I feel like it’s all in how the characters’ emotions are presented, are they swinging erratically, are they without context, are they depicted in a weak or comical light, etc.?)

There are a few things that didn’t quite work for me with this book, but nothing crazy. The villain’s motive wasn’t incredibly strong, and Ms. Crowley, their new librarian, seems to just want to be mean, those combined made the negative forces a little lack luster. It was also a little predictable and a few spots were kind of cliché, but I feel like some of that comes with the spy story category.

Overall, the kids and I enjoyed this one, would definitely recommend it, and will continue to check out the remaining books in the series. ( )