Only The Good Spy Young- GG4 *Review & Giveaway*

Publisher: Hyperion

Release Date: June 29, 2010

When Cammie Morgan enrolled at the Gallagher Academy, she knew she was preparing for the dangerous life of a spy. What she didn’t know was that the serious, real-life danger would start during her junior year of high school. But that’s exactly what happened two months ago when she faced off against an ancient terrorist organization dead set on kidnapping her.

Now the danger follows her everywhere and even Cammie “The Chameleon” can’t hide. When a terrifying encounter in London reveals that one of her most-trusted allies is actually a rogue double-agent Cammie no longer knows if she can trust her classmates, her teachers—or even her own heart.



In this fourth installment of the New York Times best-selling series, the Gallagher Girls must hack, spy, steal, and lie their way to the truth as they go searching for answers, recognizing that the key to Cammie’s future may lie deep in the past....

Cammie is never without major security-  as a Gallagher Girl she is always in immediate danger and this is just a normal part of her life.  She is attending school at the Gallagher Academy for girls training to become a spy.  When her favorite teacher gives her a special message she is heart broken to find out he is considered to be "the enemy".  Not sure who to trust or believe, Cammie turns to her friends and finds her inner strength.  She fights to the very end never backing down, never giving up.  Who is really against her?  Who can she really trust?

This is such a fun book!  I honestly read it all in one afternoon.  Cammie is a great role model for young girls (the book is for ages 10 and up).  She has a boy "friend" but that is kept to a minimum and their relationship is never the main topic of the book.  I cannot wait until my daughter is old enough to read this & I really enjoyed it myself.

I am so happy to share some Q & A's from the amazing author of the Gallagher Girls Series- Ally Carter.  She is an amazing author and I really enjoyed her answers :o)

1) What are some trends in the type of female role models seen in recent YA fiction? Do you think that there is an adequate amount of YA fiction that encourages girls to be ambitious like The Gallagher Girls?

I have been talking a lot lately about the "Golden Age of Young Adult Fiction" that I think we're currently going through. Really, truly, I think the YA books that are making waves right now will be studied and read for many, many generations to come. There's just so much good stuff out there-and that, of course, includes great heroines.

It's almost impossible to talk about the fabulous books published within the last couple of years without mentioning the trend of smart "warrior girls" like Katniss from HUNGER GAMES or awesome masterminds like Frankie from E. Lockhart's brilliant THE DISREPUTABLE HISTORY OF FRANKIE LANDAU-BANKS.

These are the strong, ambitious female characters that are grabbing all the headlines, but beyond strong and ambitious I think it's important that all types of teens be depicted in teen fiction and not all teen girls want the same things-nor should they. Some want to take on the world and earn a place in history. Some teens have far more personal goals (finding love, being a good person, figuring out who you are).

Neither type is right and neither type is wrong. To me, what's important is that fiction features characters that want something and work toward some goal, and I feel that the breadth of teen fiction being published today covers that span quite nicely.

2) Your characters in The Gallagher Girls series seem relatively mature for their age, especially in how they handle their crushes on boys. What message do you think Cammie and her friends send readers in terms of how to prioritize and judge relationships with boys?

For the Gallagher Girls, the world is both very big and very small. Big in that they are being prepped for a global profession, so their interests and abilities extend far beyond the walls of their school and the borders of their town. When you spend most of your waking hours learning how to prevent nuclear war and overthrow dictators then whether or not you have a date to the big dance is an easy thing to keep in perspective.

But the flipside of that coin is that the girls are also very sheltered behind their stone walls and the physical world they live in is very small.

Boys are very much a mystery to them-something that has never appeared on any midterm. And one of the lessons that the girls have to learn is that boys are a part of life. Relationships are a part of life. And those are lessons that even the best school in the world can't teach you.

I hope that readers of the books take away both of those lessons: that relationships matter, but they are far from the only thing that does.

3) Now that you are a New York Times bestselling author of two hit series, what influences do you believe were most important in leading you to write for the YA genre? Why do you love what you do?

It seems as if once a week someone will ask me how I'm able to get into the mindset of a teenager-as if teens are some mythical creature and I'm on a scientific exploration to study them in their native habitat. The truth is, I'm a firm believer that teens and adults have the same basic fears, concerns, wants and needs the only difference is that, hopefully, as we age we become better at dealing with those same issues.

Teen writers, as a whole, I think are just people who get that on a deeper level. We're also, largely, teens at heart. We get to write about emotions that are the most raw, feelings that are the most intense. Time is like water, I really believe, and teens are just people.concentrated. It's a great blessing to get to write about life when it's the least watered-down.

4) How can parents instill a love for reading in their tweens and teens, and what can they do to position reading not just as important or required, but also a fun pastime?

First of all, parents who want to instill a love of reading in their children really have to walk the walk. That means making books available, first and foremost, and leading by example. There's nothing more frustrating that hearing a parent complain that their teen isn't a reader and then asking the parent "what's the last book you read" and hearing them say "well, I don't have time for reading."

Perhaps the greatest compliment I receive is when parents and teens tell me that they both enjoy my books-that they're able to talk about them and come to signings and have that shared interest. That, for me, is easily one of the best parts of the job.

Buy It:  Only the Good Spy Young can be purchased on Amazon.

Win It:  One lucky winner will win a Gallagher Girl Prize Package!!  This includes a signed copy of Only The Good Spy Young, a Gallagher Girls tote bag, a Gallagher Girls Hair Pin, a Signed Heist Society book, and a pair of Heist Society Sunglasses with a total package value of $60.97

~Rules~
1. Limited to US residents; 18 years old and above
2. You must do the mandatory entry
3. Leave 1 comment for each entry including e-mail and/or link (ie if you blog about this for 3 entries you need to leave 3 comments)

~Mandatory~:  Tell me your favorite thing about this book/series or author

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This contest will end Saturday, September 4, 2010 at 11:59 p.m. PST. The winner will be chosen using random.org. Winners will have 48 hours to respond to my email. If the winner(s) do not claim their prize in the 48 hour period, a new winner(s) will be chosen at random

Disclaimer: I did not receive any form of cash for this review and this is written based on my own honest opinion (other people opinions may vary). I was provided with the GG4 book to be reviewed but this does not affect my review and opinion of the product(s)