CONFESSIONS OF A JUNIOR SPY

A top spy’s daughter gets involved in a mission against her mother’s wishes in order to save her friend.

Beatrice Bates has never set foot outside the Pangean Hotel. It’s part of an international network of sanctuaries for the Pangean League, a secret organization working toward world peace. Bea’s mom, one of the world’s best spies, is rarely home. Even though she ends up stitching up her mom’s wounds, Bea longs to follow in her footsteps and use the skills she’s learned at the Pangean—like self-defense, languages, and wiretapping—to help people. But Bea’s mom wants her to live like a “Normal” person and plans to send her off to boarding school. Bea makes a new friend, Chantal, whose family are Normal guests who are hiding at the Pangean as they try to escape from a threat. Bea wants to help Chantal, but living out her spy dreams could mean disappointing her mother. This adventurous series opener has a clear, quick plot that fluidly drives the story forward within its well-drawn world. The Slavic-coded Arctic League, which has “a totally different definition of world peace,” is on a ruthless quest for “world domination.” Bea’s mom, Anya Batrova, who’s a rare “ex-Arctic assassin,” now only works for “good countries,” but the narrative doesn’t explicitly differentiate between oppressive governments and their people. Bea presents white, and Chantal reads Black.

A fast-paced romp that leans into ethnic stereotypes.