Recommend- The Gallagher Girls

I never read young adult fiction-not since I was a young adult and Juldy Blume was all the rage- and I almost never pay the cost of hardcover books. I made an exception in the case of I'D TELL YOU I LOVE YOU, BUT THEN I'D HAVE TO KILL YOU by Ally Carter and I'm glad I did.

I was intrigued by the premise of an international spy academy for teen-sged girls, but this book wasn't the James/Bond Alias-lite I'd expected. Cammie and her friends are real girls, who reminded me of the real issues every girl- even extraoridinary ones- have to face: new teachers, parental approval, school rivals and first love.

The story is fun and funny and I read it in only a day. I recommend it to any woman looking for a light read and a stroll down memory lane... if your memories included speaking 14 languages and weapons training, that is.

BACK COVER BLURB: "The Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women is a fairly typical all-girls school—that is, if every school teaches advanced martial arts in PE, chemistry always consists of the latest in chemical warfare, and everyone breaks CIA codes for extra credit in computer class. So in truth, Gallagher Academy might posit itself as a school for geniuses but what they really mean is spies.

But what happens when a Gallagher Girl falls for a boy who doesn't have a code name? Cammie Morgan may be fluent in fourteen languages and capable of killing a man in seven different ways (three of which involve a piece of uncooked spaghetti), but the Gallagher Academy hasn’t prepared her for what to do when she meets an ordinary boy who thinks she’s an ordinary girl. Sure, she can tap his phone, hack into his computer, and track him through a mall without him ever being the wiser, but can she have a regular relationship with a regular boy who can never know the truth about her? Cammie may be an elite spy in training, but in her sophomore year, she's doing something riskier than ever --she's falling in love. "