I highly recommend the tenth edition of the Spy School series, Spy School Project X by Stuart Gibbs. This well-known book was published on September 6th, 2022 by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. This 300-page book uses fictional characters, and its main genre is mystery. This book contains many characters, the main one being Ben. He is a student at spy school who has gone through more than the average 13-year-old boy. His girlfriend Erica and two other friends Zoe and Mike have accompanied him on multiple life-threatening missions. Erica is known for being a very skilled spy, who is often called a perfectionist. Interestingly enough, her entire family (excluding her sister) is in the spy business. Throughout the mission, Ben, his friends, and Erica's entire family must fight their way to Murray Hill, someone who has placed a twenty million dollar bounty on Ben’s head. Knowing many people will attempt to assassinate Ben, Erica makes his safety her #1 priority. Throughout the entirety of the novel, she struggles to eliminate multiple assassins. Annoyed by her imperfection, she refuses to help the group, worried she will screw up more. In the final scene, Erica musters up the strength to get past her failures. She not only saves Ben but helps capture Murray. When asked about the sudden change in her performance she says she decided to move on from her mistakes and “embrace them” (Gibbs 327). The author uses Erica’s learning experience to convey the theme that everyone has strengths and weaknesses, and when one focuses on the mistakes they have made they will struggle to get past them. If Erica had not gotten past her mistakes, Murray would have been free and Ben, the boy she loved would have perished. This is a very exciting book that keeps you on edge and is a fun read. All the characters are quite lovable, and you immediately compare and contrast them with people you are familiar with. I agree with the author's opinion that cooperation is necessary for any difficult task. Without collaboration, they would not have found Murray’s location let alone survive the wave after wave of assassins. This relates to the book House on Mango Street, where Esperanza receives support from her family members when trying to escape poverty's boundaries. The book discusses how great the internet is at being a carrier of misinformation. Murray got millions of people to believe wild conspiracies that harmed Ben’s reputation. In fact, when Murray was forced to tell the truth his followers refused to believe him, thinking he had become possessed by extraterrestrials. A large percentage of the population will believe misinformation on the internet and will exclude anything that does not align with their view. This brought me to recognize the utmost importance of using reliable evidence when making claims, whether it be discussing this book or relating the play Romeo and Juliet to ongoing events in the world. I would recommend that readers keep this in mind while enjoying this fast-paced book.
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