Julian, Secret Agent

Julian

by Ann Cameron

Children's Fiction

Genres: Fiction, Childrens, 1st Grade, Realistic Fiction

64 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1988

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Ann Cameron grew up in Wisconsin. Today, she and her husband live in Guatemala. From her house she can see a waterfall and three volcanoes. Ann Cameron has been a teacher and an editor as well as a writer.

She says that writing is hardest for her at the beginning of a book. To get started, she follows this important rule for writing: "Apply seat of pants to bottom of chair."

Reviews

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've been reading this twice a week with a reading group of 7 year olds for the last 5 weeks and we're still only half way through. It took me less than 10 minutes to finish the rest of it! What's the betting it will take me til Easter with my little reading group?!

[Joe Steward · Rating 5 out of 5]

Three young kids Julian, his little brother Huey, and best friend Gloria, find themselves stuck in the Post Office due to heavy rain. Whilst there they look through Most-Wanted posters and it is here they decide they'd like to investigate crimes and criminals, it is here our secret agents are born. The story follows our three little investigators through their investigations and explorations, which include saving a trapped dog and rescuing a lost toddler.

This delightful story is well-written, realistic and interesting, and depicts characters still in the wonderful freshness of youth. I used this book on placement in my year 3 class where the children enjoyed and engaged with this book for so many reasons. The vocabulary used was contemporary and that made the story easier for the children to understand. Children engaged in class discussions for long periods and this helped with their comprehension of the story. I found it important that the children also understood and enjoyed the humour in the story as the book is written to their level. I have found when using other stories that this can often be missed and ultimately this helps promote a love and enjoyment of reading which is vital for all children in their learning development.

I have used this book in during lessons in many ways, setting comprehension questions which allowed pupils to depict the story as well as introduce their own ideas. I focused upon dilemmas the characters in the story faced and let pupils express their own opinions on these. I also allowed the children to be creative due to the enjoyment I found they were having out of the story and let them create their own new chapter for a re-release of the book. Ultimately my positive experience of using this book has led to the 5 star rating, there are many possibilities for using this book in the classroom and outside the classroom any child of a similar age will find great enjoyment in reading it.

[Evan · Rating 2 out of 5]

More of an extended short-story than a collection of stories (as the previous works in the Julian series were), 'Julian, Secret Agent' gathers together the trouble-seeking trio of big brother Julian, little brother Huey and best friend Gloria. This time, the three see wanted posters while running an errand for their mother at the local post office and decide to become crimefighters. The rest of the book recounts their misguided mischief, as their innocent curiosity causes them more trouble than they expect.

Altogether, this is a shorter and less entertaining read then Cameron's previous work in the Julian series. Most memorable among the book's 11 chapters were #5 'We Caputre the Great Goo-Goo' and #8 'We Watch the Wizard'.

Finally, while the illustrations by Diane Allison are adequate, they are similar but much softer and not as detailed as those by Ann Strugnell featured in the previous Julian collection.

[Lagobond · Rating 1 out of 5]

I adore More Stories Julian Tells; but Julian, Secret Agent isn't great. I made it to page 22, by which point the kids are out looking to fight crime. I'm not into crime-fighting as a topic for children's books, so I was rapidly losing interest.

And then things got worse: We also have a dog left behind in a hot car, who is saved in the nick of time by Julian, Gloria, and Huey. Good job, kids! Unfortunately the author has the overheated dog magically waking up after getting his head dunked in a bucket of water, and having more water poured into his open mouth. Do not do this to an unconscious dog, you risk drowning it! This is an unhelpful and potentially harmful way to handle the situation. Cannot recommend this book.

[Stacey Mulholland · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute book for grades 1-3. Unlike some other Julian book, these chapters make a chronological story.
A few aspects are dated but kids might like the "imaginary" time when elementary kids wandered around without adults watching them.

[Iain Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun read.
Adventurous kids allowed to roam their town - quite old fashioned.
Possibly not like that in the 21st century where kids freedom is more restricted.

[Maughn Gregory · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the best books in the series, IMHO; utterly charming; I laughed out loud several times.

[ChristinaW · Rating 3 out of 5]

This short chapter book is part of a series about the main character, Julian. Julian is a young African American who works as a secret agent with his best friends. The book is a fun read for students in the lower grade level, (it would not be appropriate for students above maybe 4th grade). I did like how Julian was a positive young African American boy. He had normal childhood experiences. He lived in a neighborhood where the African American culture was evident (MLK statue in the park). However, I also felt as though more from the culture could have been tied into the book. It was simply refreshing to find a book that my students could read that was fun and just showed young African American boys in a positive light.

[Danie P. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this series about Julian, his little brother and his friends. The main character is black/african american but it doesn't focus on that. Its just about kids having an adventure trying to find bad guys. I feel that there is a huge dearth in literature that allows kids to read along with a character they identify with that doesn't focus on the color of their skin. Thumbs up.

[Joenna · Rating 3 out of 5]

When Julian, his little brother Huey, and their friend Gloria decide to be "crime busters," they find themselves in one adventure after another.

I would have given this more stars and I would have included it on our mystery booklist, but one chapter kept referencing "beer" which I don't think parents will appreciate for their 1st graders:)

[Mike Fiorentino · Rating 3 out of 5]

In my opinion of many books i've read, this one is really decent. The plot in my opinion was significantly long for a kids' book. The thing that i liked about this book is the characters attitudes. The characters have ambition to reach their goals, even if it was a waste of time. The mood of the book was rather boring in my opinion and i wasn't interested.

[Erica · Rating 5 out of 5]

I learned to love reading. I received the book for Christmas when I was in the 2nd grade from my Godmother, an english teacher. I read it over and over! I loved this book! This is the book that introduced me to reading and I still have that same tattered book from 1989.

[Johnny · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a cute children's chapter book about Julian, a young African American boy who uses a great imagination for adventure in his urban environment. The language is rather simplistic, but the storyline is fun!

[Carol Evans · Rating 4 out of 5]

Made my daughter want to be a secret agent, but the non-dangerous kind.

[Jenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I recommend this book because it teaches you if you think someone is something, you can't always be sure.

[Campbell · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was exciting, but wasn't very interesting.

[Ayo Noroles · Rating 5 out of 5]

nice

[Maggiemyre · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent intervention book for 4th/5th grade students. Great mystery story that really engages the kids until the end.

[Amy Kannel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Did not enjoy this nearly so much as The Stories Julian Tells (maybe because the clever, wise father only appears at the very end?). Suddenly I'm much less excited to look for more Julian books.

[Jesse Baldwin]

I think at some point in time, all kids want to be a spy or secret agent. This book can help students escape reality and try to catch some actual bank robbers.

[Bailey Johannes]

I have a really good friend name Julian and I liked secret agent books as a kid.

[Madison Henson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy a booking. Someone bank robber gets 25,000 reward. The suspected that would happened.

[WSL Library]

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