I'd Tell You I Love You, but Then I'd Have to Kill You (Gallagher Girls Series #1) by Ally Carter

From Barnes & Noble

The Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women lives up to its name. Not only does this exclusive boarding school teach advanced language skills and correct deportment; its students also master the arts of tapping phones, hacking into computers, and spying in public places. At school, second-generation Gallagher Girl Cammie Morgan has impeccable credentials: She is fluent in 14 languages and able to kill an assailant in seven different ways. But recently life has dealt Cammie a card that she never anticipated: She has fallen in love with an ordinary boy who knows nothing about her exotic double life. A truly covert romance.

From the Publisher

Cammie Morgan is a student at the Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women, a fairly typical all-girls school-that is, if every school taught advanced martial arts in PE and the latest in chemical warfare in science, and students received extra credit for breaking CIA codes in computer class.  The Gallagher Academy might claim to be a school for geniuses but it's really a school for spies. 

Even though Cammie is fluent in fourteen languages and capable of killing a man in seven different ways, she has no idea 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, or track him through town with the skill of a real "pavement artist"-but can she maneuver a relationship with someone who can never know the truth about her? 

Cammie Morgan may be an elite spy-in-training, but in her sophomore year, she's on her most dangerous mission-falling in love.

Publishers Weekly

The spy game isn't just a guy game, as witnessed by Carter's diverting entry into the flurry of teen espionage novels flashing loads of girl power. Unfortunately, Raudman sounds like she's straining (and sometimes squeakily so) to sound younger than she is and her intonation is a bit off, giving her reading a falseness that's hard to overcome. Cammie is a sophomore at the Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women a place that lives up to its name, as Cammie knows 14 languages and is a skilled killing machine. Of course, Gallagher girls become the most elite spies, and Cammie fires ahead on that career track (as was her mother, now the school's headmistress) until romance with an ordinary guy, no less threatens to derail her progress. Despite any shortcomings, aficionados of this burgeoning fiction genre will be tempted to give this title a go. Ages 12-up. (May) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Mary Loftus - Children's Literature

Everyone in the town of Roseville thinks the Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women is a regular boarding school for snobs. But it is actually an undercover, all-girl spy training school, and Cameron Morgan is both a sophomore and the daughter of the headmistress. The curriculum for these high school girls includes "Covert Operations," "Culture," and "Assimilation." Students are expected to speak one of the fourteen languages they know during lunch in the Great Hall. There are lots of other fun spy-related details in the story, which will have most readers chuckling. When Cammie and her CovOps class head into town for a drill, the team is separated and Cammie meets Josh. The girls mount a surveillance mission to find out all they can about him. Cammie keeps her true identity undercover so that she can experience what it might be like to be "normal" and have a date. But when Josh's friend Dillon sees Cammie in town with her classmates from Gallagher, her cover is blown and Cammie has to decide what is more important: boys or spying. Clearly chick lit for teens, this story is amusing with engaging characters and a lighthearted plot. 2006, Hyperion, Ages 12 to 15.

VOYA

Becoming a super spy is not easy, especially if your parents have been acknowledged as two of the best agents out there. But Cameron (aka Cammie the Chameleon) is not intimidated. Cammie is a Gallagher Girl. She and her friends go to the Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women. To the outside world, the Gallagher Academy is a rich girls' prep school, but in truth it is really a master spy training ground. What could derail a young woman from this chosen path? His name is Josh. Cammie meets him by accident during her first Covert Operations field experience. Josh is cute, he is nice, and he is normal with an average family. Suddenly the Gallagher Girls are facing their biggest challenge-figuring out boys. Written in an easy-to-read, conversational tone, this novel combines the real (learning how to talk to boys) and the unreal (learning how to be a secret agent for the government) in a strangely believable way. Think Alias meets Gilmore Girls. The causal explanation for the complex inner workings of the secretive Gallagher Academy and the diversity of the group inside its walls make a unique and enjoyable setting. The characters and their relationships, including Cammie's mother-Headmistress of the Gallagher Academy-propel this story beyond just being an action-packed novel into something special. The promise of a second Gallagher Girl book is the promise of good times to come.

School Library Journal

Gr 6-9-Cammie Morgan attends prestigious Gallagher Academy, a girl's private high school for geniuses that actually teaches the latest techniques in espionage. Everything about her life is top secret, so when she meets Josh on an outing in town she lies about her background so that he will think she has a normal life. In order to continue their ever-deepening friendship, Cammie sneaks out through the school's tunnel, exchanges messages under a rock, and has her friends cover for her. By the end of Ally Carter's novel (Hyperion, 2006) the truth is revealed and Cammie has learned more about herself than she has about spying. The unique plot, snappy dialogue, and Cammie's wry asides maintain the interest of listeners. Written in the first person, listeners feel the excitement, frustrations, and insecurities of teenage life. Ren e Raudman's overly dramatic narration is appropriate for the story and will keep listeners interested. She gives each character a unique voice, and changes pace to heighten the mood. An excellent choice for young teens.-Claudia Moore, W.T. Woodson High School, Fairfax, VA Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Product Details