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Reviewed by:
  • Also Known As by Robin Benway
  • Elizabeth Bush
Benway, Robin . Also Known As. Walker, 2013. 308p. ISBN 978-0-8027-3390-0 $16.99 R Gr. 7-10.

Maggie was an adorable, precocious little lock-picker at the age of three, and she's now grown into a lovely and talented teenage safecracker, a true help to her parents in their work for the Collective, a spy organization bent on righting the world's wrongs. She has willingly followed and assisted them in their peripatetic global assignments, but a stateside assignment in need of a teenaged lead is about to put more of her skills to the test. To shut down an impending leak about the Collective's existence, she must infiltrate a toney New York high school and befriend the son of the informant who may blow the cover on the Collective. See what's coming? Of course you do. Uncertain how to make friends, she winds up as besties with Roux, an ex-hellion fallen from social grace. Uncertain how to flirt, she nonetheless wins (and ardently returns) the affection of Jesse, the informant's son. Meanwhile, her loving and protective parents have a near meltdown trying to resolve their critical need for information and the newfound realization that their daughter deserves a life. Make no mistake, spying is mainly the piquant backdrop for the Maggie/Jesse romance; the inevitable bad-guy chase scene isn't nearly as detailed as the couple's first date, but the heart-palpitating, soul-satisfying romance make this a rom-com that an entire circle of girlfriends can devour in a week. Have extra copies and Hot Pick labels ready. [End Page 7]

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