A Spoonful of Spying (Alice Eclair, Spy Extraordinaire 2) by Sarah Todd Taylor

What worked:

Many young readers enjoy cooking and baking, and those skills are featured in the story. Alice proved she’s one of France’s top bakers in the first book, and this cover story for her spy persona continues. Once again, she comes up with a creative pastry to gain access to a restricted area at the World Fair. She also enlists the help of a non-spy named Eva, and she becomes an invaluable ally. Eva is modeling new dresses at the World Fair, so readers with an interest in fashion design will enjoy scenes set during the shows. Readers with a taste for history will appreciate references to the Nazi’s rise to power in Germany just a decade before World War II.

The first chapter immediately jumps into the adventure, as Alice conducts surveillance on a luxury liner. She’s teamed with an adult agent named Claude, and he offers helpful advice and support. It’s unexpected when he says she should sacrifice an objective if she needs to rescue someone. The plot breaks down into two missions; two agents have been kidnapped, and someone is trying to steal the plans for a special airplane called Daedalus. Alice is told to find leads about the missing agents, but she should ignore any thoughts of investigating Daedalus.

Alice is a precocious character, as her talents far exceed her age. She whips up all kinds of cakes, pastries, and chocolates that amaze all of the other characters. In this book, she ices chocolates to look just like the fancy designs of dresses that she’s only seen moments before. Alice is extremely confident in her baking and spying abilities, and she resents feeling disrespected. Others have low expectations of her because she’s a kid, but that only infuriates her to prove herself. Two of Alice’s strongest spy skills are observation and creativity. She notices small details others might miss, and she can quickly assess her surroundings to find unexpected ways out of sticky situations.

What didn’t work as well:

It’s surprising how unimportant the story makes Alice’s mother. Alice runs off to do her spy things with no evidence that her mother ever becomes worried. Rather than calling her Alice’s mom, the story often refers to her as Madame Éclair. She’s not a big part of the book, but the woman’s main focus is her business, not her daughter.

The final verdict:

You should read the previous book first, since it establishes Alice’s backstory as a baker. Young readers will enjoy this toned-down spy mystery, as it has limited violence and lacks the edginess of some other middle-grade spy books. Overall, I recommend you give this book and the series a try for yourself.