What do you think?
Rate this book
Mac B., Kid Spy #2
Mini Espião 2 - O Crime Impossível
The Crown Jewels are in danger... again! When the jewels go missing from inside a locked room, Mac's spy skills are put to the test. How did the thief break in? Where did the jewels go? And will Mac be able to solve this locked room mystery before the thief escapes? This mystery isn't just a whodunit... it's a howdunit!
The action in this new adventure is nonstop, as Mac travels to an ancient Irish castle to solve the mystery. There, he encounters everything from killer king cobras to bizarre ice sculptures... and even a revenge plot dating back hundreds of years! Will you be able to solve the mystery before Mac does? Also features historical facts masterfully woven throughout the plot, and full-color illustrations on every page. Don't miss the newest installment of this totally smart and sidesplittingly funny new series, Mac B., Kid Spy.
The action in this new adventure is nonstop, as Mac travels to an ancient Irish castle to solve the mystery. There, he encounters everything from killer king cobras to bizarre ice sculptures... and even a revenge plot dating back hundreds of years! Will you be able to solve the mystery before Mac does? Also features historical facts masterfully woven throughout the plot, and full-color illustrations on every page. Don't miss the newest installment of this totally smart and sidesplittingly funny new series, Mac B., Kid Spy.
Hardcover
First published December 26, 2018
268 people are currently reading
333 people want to read
About the author
Mac Barnett
92 books1,338 followersBorn to non-farmers in a California farming community, Mac Barnett now lives near San Francisco. He's on the board of directors of 826LA, a nonprofit writing center for students in Los Angeles, and he founded the Echo Park Time Travel Mart, a convenience store for time travelers.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 80 reviews
February 7, 2019
Still a super fun read, but even my 5 year old is getting a little tired of the repetitive jokes that he cracks over and over. Still a solid read aloud choice!
April 8, 2019
An entertaining addition to the Mac B., Kid Spy series features a howdunit. How did the crown jewels get stolen from a locked cell with Mac B and a Beefeater locked inside guarding them? Once again, the queen and her Corgis are a key part of the story. A well-illustrated and humorous story for kids in grades 2-5. Barnett makes funny asides to reader drawing them in and making them feel included. Includes quality illustrations and short chapters that keep the action moving. Will you figure out whodunit before Mac B does?
January 20, 2021
ترجمه روون و باارزش امیرحسین دانشور کیان و کلمه زیبای شاطر رو که دوباره با معنی اصلیش زنده کردن.
July 15, 2025
I don’t understand how the Queen of England trusted a 9-year-old boy—my mom won’t even trust me to go to the supermarket! And somehow *he* did it. I bet Blood was shocked at how easy it was—well, he actually *was* surprised (you can look it up). And counting the bricks in that cell? That took up like half the book! I even asked the library for a discount, but they didn’t agree. Anyway, I liked it and I give it a 4 out of 5!
August 24, 2020
Loving these books! I’m co-reading with my son. The most text I’ve ever gotten him to read at once. Cute, laugh-out-loud stories.
April 7, 2021
Rating from the nephew: 3.5 stars but the end was a solid 4 because he won the bet on who done it.
December 13, 2024
It's a charming tale for younger readers. Not his best work but it does have panache.
July 28, 2023
The boys love this series.
May 23, 2020
Upper elementary readers will enjoy the offbeat humor Barnett is known for. In Book 2, Mac solves the mystery of the theft of the British Crown Jewels. His adventures and misadventures take him to England and Ireland before he figures out the thief has been with him all the time.
Fun illustrations and a look at the Queen from a very different perspective.
Fun illustrations and a look at the Queen from a very different perspective.
January 8, 2019
{My thoughts} – Mac is back in his all new Spy Adventure. The Queen of England once again sends him off on another mission. This time he is to try and prevent the theft of the Crown Jewels. However, he fails at preventing that and then has to figure out who took them, how they took them and where they went with them.
The illustrations in the book are bright and fun. They help to add to the quality of the story as they go hand and hand with the words presented on each page. This isn’t a long book to read and all the illustrations help to make it much shorter then it originally appears.
Throughout this book there are also many facts listed when the characters are having conversations. I think that is an important aspect of any book, to have facts listed within the fictional work. I do find it annoying though when as I am reading the book says something to the effect you can look it up too. I would much rather not be told to look something up, but it is a fun little book.
I recommend this book and the series for any child that enjoys spy novels. I also think that children that enjoy going on adventures within their imaginations will also enjoy reading this book and or the series. I look forward to seeing where the next book in the series is going to take Mac.
The illustrations in the book are bright and fun. They help to add to the quality of the story as they go hand and hand with the words presented on each page. This isn’t a long book to read and all the illustrations help to make it much shorter then it originally appears.
Throughout this book there are also many facts listed when the characters are having conversations. I think that is an important aspect of any book, to have facts listed within the fictional work. I do find it annoying though when as I am reading the book says something to the effect you can look it up too. I would much rather not be told to look something up, but it is a fun little book.
I recommend this book and the series for any child that enjoys spy novels. I also think that children that enjoy going on adventures within their imaginations will also enjoy reading this book and or the series. I look forward to seeing where the next book in the series is going to take Mac.
January 25, 2019
@kidlitexchange #partner
.
Mac's spy skills are tested once again by the Queen of England in this adorable book. This time the crown jewels have been stolen, but by whom and how? Mac must use his deductive skills to find out how the jewels were taken from a locked room, that he was in. And he was with a Queen's guards.
.
The action is ever present and nonstop. Not only does Mas travel to England and the Tower of London, but his ventures to an ancient Irish castle as well. There is even another locked door mystery to solve in Ireland. Mac encounters killer cobras and odd ice sculptures. After reading the book you will know why it is so bizarre that he should find a snake in his room.
.
Mac B. Spy Kid is just a fun independent read or read aloud for a kid that likes action. This book moves fast and keeps the reader wanting more. When I read it with my boys they didn't want me to put it down...therefore we read it one sitting. It was that fun, both for the listener and reader!
.
Thank you @kidlitexhange for this copy. All opinions are my own. Publication date : December 2018.
.
Mac's spy skills are tested once again by the Queen of England in this adorable book. This time the crown jewels have been stolen, but by whom and how? Mac must use his deductive skills to find out how the jewels were taken from a locked room, that he was in. And he was with a Queen's guards.
.
The action is ever present and nonstop. Not only does Mas travel to England and the Tower of London, but his ventures to an ancient Irish castle as well. There is even another locked door mystery to solve in Ireland. Mac encounters killer cobras and odd ice sculptures. After reading the book you will know why it is so bizarre that he should find a snake in his room.
.
Mac B. Spy Kid is just a fun independent read or read aloud for a kid that likes action. This book moves fast and keeps the reader wanting more. When I read it with my boys they didn't want me to put it down...therefore we read it one sitting. It was that fun, both for the listener and reader!
.
Thank you @kidlitexhange for this copy. All opinions are my own. Publication date : December 2018.
February 25, 2019
Mac B. Kid Spy: The Impossible Crime by Mac Barnett, illustrated by Mike Lowery, 149 pages. Orchard Books, 2019. $13.
Language: G (0 swears); Mature Content: G; Violence: PG.
BUYING ADVISORY: EL (K-3) - ESSENTIAL
AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH
Mac is playing video games at the local arcade when The Queen calls and requests his help guarding her jewels from a potential thief. A dog delivers a plane ticket and he is on his way to an epic adventure. Mac faces a series of mysteries that he must solve to retrieve the jewels that were stolen out from under him.
This book is so much fun. The humor is subtle and in true Mac Barnett style, completely on point. There are illustrations on most pages, but enough writing to challenge most early readers. Some chapters are long and some are very short and this variety adds to the humor and playfulness of this book.
Jen Wecker, HS English Teacher
https://kissthebookjr.blogspot.com/20...
Language: G (0 swears); Mature Content: G; Violence: PG.
BUYING ADVISORY: EL (K-3) - ESSENTIAL
AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH
Mac is playing video games at the local arcade when The Queen calls and requests his help guarding her jewels from a potential thief. A dog delivers a plane ticket and he is on his way to an epic adventure. Mac faces a series of mysteries that he must solve to retrieve the jewels that were stolen out from under him.
This book is so much fun. The humor is subtle and in true Mac Barnett style, completely on point. There are illustrations on most pages, but enough writing to challenge most early readers. Some chapters are long and some are very short and this variety adds to the humor and playfulness of this book.
Jen Wecker, HS English Teacher
https://kissthebookjr.blogspot.com/20...
July 7, 2019
Author Mac Barnett regales his readers with his imaginary adventures from his growing up years when he was a spy. In this, the second title in the series, Mac receives a message from the Queen of England via one of her beloved corgis, and is summoned to catch a thief intent on stealing the Crown Jewels. Most of the interactions between Mac and the Queen are via phone communications, and they are often humorous, including some misunderstandings about pants and trousers and a debt that has long gone unpaid. The book itself is a fast read since the text is written in a large font size and there are several colorful illustrations. Short chapters also add to the book's appeal for some readers since they will barely start a chapter only to have completed it. For those who indulge in mysteries, this one is a fun outing.
October 31, 2019
Mac B., kid spy is back for a second adventure. And, of course, the Queen of England is calling him once again to solve a crime that is about to be committed. Someone is about to steal the crown jewels. About to? How does she know? Well, the criminal sent her a note, of course. "Tomorrow night I will get what my great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather did not. I will not be stopped. We have been waiting 318 years!"
So Mac is on a plane to London, England and must work with a partner that he doesn't really want to be with Holcroft, a beefeater at the Tower of London. And while in a locked room with the crown jewels, they are stolen! How on earth could that have happened? But Mac B is on the case and he's about to risk his life to get the crown jewels back.
A humorous novel with a fun voice for 3rd grade and up.
So Mac is on a plane to London, England and must work with a partner that he doesn't really want to be with Holcroft, a beefeater at the Tower of London. And while in a locked room with the crown jewels, they are stolen! How on earth could that have happened? But Mac B is on the case and he's about to risk his life to get the crown jewels back.
A humorous novel with a fun voice for 3rd grade and up.
February 17, 2020
"That is how it happens. One minute you are waiting for your mom to pick you up from a mini golf course in California. The next minute you are flying to England on a secret mission to protect the crown jewels. I know. It does not make much sense. But when I think back on the many years I spent being a kid, things like this happened a lot: Grown-ups were always making me do things that did not make much sense."
Mac Barnett's semi-auto graphical spy thriller continues in this delightful second installment! The crown jewels are under threat again. But this time, the threat is closer to home...
Once again I loved the silliness and sly dual address and spunky illustrations! And, having recently visited the Tower of London, I enjoyed this story even more.
Mac Barnett's semi-auto graphical spy thriller continues in this delightful second installment! The crown jewels are under threat again. But this time, the threat is closer to home...
Once again I loved the silliness and sly dual address and spunky illustrations! And, having recently visited the Tower of London, I enjoyed this story even more.
August 25, 2023
I read a lot of books with my kids and rarely do I list them on Goodreads. Occasionally I make an exception...Mac B. Kid Spy is one of those exceptions. Writing a book for kids is an art. Dogman...trash. Captain Underpants...trash. Anyone can say parents are dumb and make jokes about toilets and farts. And yes, kids (especially young boys) will LOVE it. Barnett manages to write a very funny book for kids that rarely delves into potty humor. Both my wife and I read this to my son at different points and laughed out loud. My son (who is five) also loved the story. I'm excited to read the rest of the series.
March 6, 2019
Leave it to Mac Barnett to create this zany series about his childhood adventures as a spy. (You read that right. Whether you believe it is up to you.) In this second book he describes the case of stolen Crown Jewels. Imagine being a kid and having the Queen of England send for you to help her out. Of course, it is a bummer that the summons came just as Mac was about to win at a nearly impossible video game. Instead, "The screen flashed the saddest two words in the English language: Game Over."
But there is plenty of humor to offset such sad scenes. Readers will learn that in British English pants = underwear, so don't ever say that you will beat the pants off someone. Besides tracking down the missing jewels and dodging assassination attempts, Mac also gives the Queen some advice about gifts. "The best gifts are those you can read -" he explains.
Combine a young Mac with a Queen who thinks the nest gifts are wearable, a Corgi named Freddie (along with quite a few other Corgis), a beefeater named Holcroft, and the odd cobra or so ... and you get a rollicking adventure with illustrations designed to make you laugh your pants, uhm, trousers off.
As Mac says, "This message will now self-destruct, unless the publisher decided we didn't have the budget for that."
Hand this to fans of Diary of a Wimpy Kid and other heavily illustrated stories of childhood exploits.
I read an advance copy provided by the publisher for review purposes. Any quotes may change in wording in the finished edition of the text.
But there is plenty of humor to offset such sad scenes. Readers will learn that in British English pants = underwear, so don't ever say that you will beat the pants off someone. Besides tracking down the missing jewels and dodging assassination attempts, Mac also gives the Queen some advice about gifts. "The best gifts are those you can read -" he explains.
Combine a young Mac with a Queen who thinks the nest gifts are wearable, a Corgi named Freddie (along with quite a few other Corgis), a beefeater named Holcroft, and the odd cobra or so ... and you get a rollicking adventure with illustrations designed to make you laugh your pants, uhm, trousers off.
As Mac says, "This message will now self-destruct, unless the publisher decided we didn't have the budget for that."
Hand this to fans of Diary of a Wimpy Kid and other heavily illustrated stories of childhood exploits.
I read an advance copy provided by the publisher for review purposes. Any quotes may change in wording in the finished edition of the text.
January 28, 2019
@kidlitexchange #partner Elementary!
As an adult, I closed the book and said, “Okay......” BUT this is perfect for emerging readers! This early middle grade chapter book has lots of fun drawings and humor. I’ll be buying this for my library, no doubt!! Thanks to #kidlitexchange for a review copy of Kid Spy: the impossible crime by @macbarnett!
🧐
#kidspy #macbarnett #middlegrade #bookstagram #librariansofinstagram #teachersfollowteachers #elementarylibrary
As an adult, I closed the book and said, “Okay......” BUT this is perfect for emerging readers! This early middle grade chapter book has lots of fun drawings and humor. I’ll be buying this for my library, no doubt!! Thanks to #kidlitexchange for a review copy of Kid Spy: the impossible crime by @macbarnett!
🧐
#kidspy #macbarnett #middlegrade #bookstagram #librariansofinstagram #teachersfollowteachers #elementarylibrary
February 27, 2019
I read this one with my so , and it was a perfect fit for my 2nd grader and his sense of humor. I really enjoy this new series a lot! The mysteries that Mac B solves are fun and challenging enough that neither of us could figure it out right away, but we both had some good guesses. It also has a good sense of humor and teaches history (to me too!) along the way. We already look forward to the third book.
March 5, 2019
My reluctant reader (9yrs old) enjoys these books and is sad he has to wait until September for the next in the series. Barnett has a great sense of kids. This book included locked room riddles which matches what my kids is current interests. It uses a lot of dialogue which is great for shared reading and also matches writing concepts my kid is working on in school. I still wonder if some of the 1980s references are missed by kids, but that makes it fun for the parents.
March 16, 2019
Another day, another crime. The first book in this series felt fresh and entertaining....this one just feels like a continuum of the first without much in the way of new features and ideas. For example--why or why are we looking for the Crown Jewels again??
The concept of a locked room mystery is one that could be explored in-class and with escape rooms being so popular this could be easily talked up to kids.
The concept of a locked room mystery is one that could be explored in-class and with escape rooms being so popular this could be easily talked up to kids.
April 6, 2019
Second book in Mac Barnett's Kid Spy series - The Impossible Crime is another fun romp through Mac's youthful adventures as an underage spy helping out the Queen of England. The book is great for strong early readers as well as older kids 5th-7th grade who want a simpler yet enjoyable read. I am looking forward to Number 3
November 15, 2021
This is another knock-out book by Mac Barnett that I highly recommend! Book 2 centers around the Crown Jewels being stolen, and, again, Barnett adds in some highly intriguing facts about the monarchy. In this book Mac rebels against the Queen of England's wishes and how she manages this situation is pretty unique and unexpected.
March 11, 2019
Still a good read. I think the humor is too subtle and understated for many young people, but it's still a fine story/mystery. I don't think it's as fun as the first one, but it's still worth checking out.
April 3, 2019
When you read to your kids every night, a really good book stands out. Mac Barnett quickly jumped to the top! We have read all of his books! As my kids are getting older we tried this chapter book series and loved it! Plus any time one gets to use a bad British accent is just bonus.
June 19, 2019
A very entertaining and well illustrated lower elementary book. It is humorous and kids will enjoy the video game references. Many won't know what it means to keep adding quarters since they all have their own systems.
November 28, 2019
this book was sooo amazing i've read almost 2 times already i thought this book is the best book for people in elementary its almost like the last book but more interesting i can't wait to get the next book
March 27, 2020
Cute WhoDunIt mystery for kids. If you liked the first one, this one was good too. My son (7 yo) found it a little “scarier” then the last, but that seems to revolve around a snack and the “bad guy’s” last name is Blood.
Cute kids mystery book.
Cute kids mystery book.
August 14, 2020
Me and my 7 year old boy read along- it’s fun to watch him enjoy the silly jokes and listen to it.
It’s kinda funny when the queen says it’s my lingo and I speak like that..
and how they go about to catch the guy...
good fun
It’s kinda funny when the queen says it’s my lingo and I speak like that..
and how they go about to catch the guy...
good fun
April 21, 2021
This is a series that my 8 year old son and I both genuinely enjoy. The humor is wonderful and never based on meanness. It's silly and ridiculous and so much fun. This one allowed us to talk about locked-door mysteries as a subgenre, which was really great.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 80 reviews