Spy School #5: Spy School Secret Service by Stuart Gibbs

My name is Emily, and I'm the top spy at the CIA's secret academy for kids. Hey, it's a fact, so get over it. Ben was activated for a special mission, but he screwed up and is now wanted for attempting to assassinate the president. I'm kind of a fugitive too, since I helped him evade the FBI, CIA, and everyone else. Ben's pretty sure SPYDER is behind everything, again, and they're really good at framing others for their crimes. Ben's stopped them before (with a BIG assist from me), so they figured let's blow up the spy-in-training along with the oval office. However, they're experts at distraction, and Ben's sure they're up to something else. We need to prove Ben's innocence and thwart SPYDER, but we don't even know what they're planning yet. I don't trust a lot of people, but I think we're going to need help.

I forgot I'd already book 6 in the series first, so I needed to "forget" some things as I read this book. The format of this book was the same as all the others. A secret organization schemed to create an international incident, and an over-matched boy was tasked with stopping them. As mentioned above, Erica was the unbelievably-trained heritage spy (her family of spies traced back to the Revolutionary War), and she did most of the actual spy work. Her contrast to Ben made the story most enjoyable. She wouldn't let anything keep her from becoming the best spy, and Ben had an unanswered crush on her. She believed friendship was a weakness, so her true feelings were unknown. Ben's strength as a spy was mental. He was gifted at mathematical concepts and creative thinking. I won't say he was the brains and Erica was the brawn, because she had way more knowledge at spying. As with the other books, Ben managed to figure out what was going on just in time and helped save the day, just in time. You'll enjoy this book if you like light-hearted spy stories. It's not as silly as some of the others in the series, which actually makes it better.