Series spotlight - Gallagher girls

There are so many good books that have been out in the market for ages. Series Spotlight is to introduce readers to series they may not have heard of before and will be featured every week. This will be featured every Thursday. Usually, these series will be ongoing, like today’s spotlight – Ally Carter’s Gallagher girls series.

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This series is very popular in America. I haven’t seen them in any UK bookstores, I don’t think they’re published here, but you can buy them from Amazon or any similar websites.

The Gallagher Academy for exceptional young women is home to girls more exceptional than the outside world could dream at. The students are studying espionage, their future – spies for the US government. This series follows main character Cammie and her roommates; smart Liz, athletic Bex and gorgeous Macey through their adventures at spy school. While there has been a sudden increase in teenage-spy books in recent years, the Gallagher girls books stand out because the girls are not spies, but in training. Their adventures are relatable because they are balancing everyday life – boys, parties and school, with their training.

I’d Tell You I Love You but Then I’d Have to Kill You
Cammie is the chameleon. She can tail anyone, anywhere, blend in and not be seen. So when she is on a training exercise and is noticed by a boy, she is more than surprised. So are her friends. They decide that either he is a rogue spy investigating the academy, or he might be her soul mate. Either option requires further investigation. Unknown to the teachers, the girls begin to secretly investigate Josh while also studying for their exams and starting their hands-on ‘covert operations’ classes.
This book is fun and fast. I love the depiction of the academy and Cammie (whose mother is the headmistress) knowing all of the secret passages that enable the girls’ illicit wanderings. The girls are all well-portrayed and have a good mixture of experience and innocence – they may have helped parents on missions, but they still enjoy a good movie marathon.

Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy
The girls are shocked when they accidentally discover a training school for boy spies. They are determined to find out more about these boys, but are still unprepared when they come face-to-face. With more classes, new boys to worry about, and the suspicion that Cammie’s mother is hiding something important, this term promises even more excitement than the last. On top of this, they suspect that someone at the academy is leaking information to an enemy – the girls have to investigate further.
The second book takes the world introduced in the first book and develops it much further. The old and new characters are well portrayed (I admit to a soft spot for unstoppable Bex) and there is more of a plot. It’s just as much fun, and perfect for young teenage girls.

What’s next?
Don’t Judge a Girl by her Cover (don’t you love the name!) out on June 9th, 2009
Taken directly from Miss Ally Carter’s own website:

When Cammie "the Chameleon" Morgan visits her roommate Macey in Boston, she thinks she's in for an exciting end to her summer break. After all, she's there to watch Macey's father accept a nomination for vice president of the United States. But when you go to the world's best school (for spies), "exciting" and "deadly" are never far apart. Cammie and Macey soon find themselves trapped in a kidnapper's dangerous plot, with only their espionage skills to save them.As her junior year begins, Cammie can't shake the memory of what happened in Boston, and even the Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women doesn't feel like the safe haven it once did. Shocking secrets and old flames seem to lurk around every one of the mansion's corners as Cammie and her friends struggle to answer the questions, Who is after Macey? And how can they keep her safe?Soon Cammie is joining Bex and Liz as Macey's private security team on the campaign trail. The girls must use their spy training at every turn as the stakes are raise, and Cammie gets closer and closer to the shocking truth...

This seems to feature the girls outside of the academy more, which I was hoping for. It will be interesting to see them outside of their usual environment and away from the teacher-student relationships.

To find out more you can visit the authors website here, or you could visit her blog, where she is currently posting a small snippet from book three every few days.