50 pages 1 hour read

James Ponti

City Spies

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2020

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Themes

Finding One’s Inner “Spy”

Brooklyn’s journey of growth throughout the story is an example of how finding her inner spy is more than just a description of developing spy skills. Although that is part of it, what Brooklyn learns during her first weeks with the spy team changes her in profound, unexpected ways. Along the way, each member of the team contributes to Brooklyn’s growth by teaching her their unique talents, believing in her bravery and skill, and accepting her as a member of their family. Brooklyn’s abilities as a hacker and desire to fight for justice make her a natural spy in Mother’s eyes, but he believes this only means she will have to work harder to fully live up to her potential. Thus, Brooklyn’s life as a spy is what gives her the resources, social support, and courage to become the person she was always meant to be.

The individual contributions of each team member add to their collective definition of what it means to be a spy. Sydney specifically believes in justice and upholds the goal of fighting for it. Mother invents adages that describe his beliefs about spy work. Monty studies cryptography and biology.