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My Mom Is A Spy: Book 1
My mum is absolutely definitely 100% NOT a spy...
When Lucia and her dad come to stay for a week, Idris can't believe his bad luck. He had prepared himself to share the TV remote and maybe some of his toys, but he hadn't prepared himself for Lucia. Lucia LOVES spying and - worst of all - she is convinced that Idris' mum is a spy. And that just can't be true . . . can it?
But even Idris has to admit there is something a bit unusual about their family trip to the zoo. Were his eyes playing tricks on him, or did someone really drop something into Mum’s bag? And why is Budi the orangutan, who is normally so cheerful, suddenly off his food?
Maybe it's time for some spying, after all . . .
When Lucia and her dad come to stay for a week, Idris can't believe his bad luck. He had prepared himself to share the TV remote and maybe some of his toys, but he hadn't prepared himself for Lucia. Lucia LOVES spying and - worst of all - she is convinced that Idris' mum is a spy. And that just can't be true . . . can it?
But even Idris has to admit there is something a bit unusual about their family trip to the zoo. Were his eyes playing tricks on him, or did someone really drop something into Mum’s bag? And why is Budi the orangutan, who is normally so cheerful, suddenly off his food?
Maybe it's time for some spying, after all . . .
- GenresHumor
118 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 8, 2022
4 people are currently reading
13 people want to read
About the author
Andy McNab
205 books1,160 followersAndy McNab joined the infantry in 1976 as a boy soldier. In 1984 he was badged as a member of 22 SAS Regiment. He served in B Squadron 22 SAS for ten years and worked on both covert and overt special operations worldwide, including anti-terrorist and anti-drug operations in the Middle and Far East, South and Central America and Northern Ireland.
Trained as a specialist in counter terrorism, prime target elimination, demolitions, weapons and tactics, covert surveillance and information gathering in hostile environments, and VIP protection, McNab worked on cooperative operations with police forces, prison services, anti-drug forces and western backed guerrilla movements as well as on conventional special operations. In Northern Ireland he spent two years working as an undercover operator with 14th Intelligence Group, going on to become an instructor.
McNab also worked as an instructor on the SAS selection and training team and instructed foreign special forces in counter terrorism, hostage rescue and survival training.
Andy McNab has written about his experiences in the SAS in two bestselling books, Bravo Two Zero (1993) and Immediate Action (1995). Bravo Two Zero is the highest selling war book of all time and has sold over 1.7 million copies in the UK. To date it has been published in 17 countries and translated into 16 languages. The CD spoken word version of Bravo Two Zero, narrated by McNab, sold over 60,000 copies and earned a silver disc. The BBC's film of Bravo Two Zero, starring Sean Bean, was shown on primetime BBC 1 television in 1999 and released on DVD in 2000.
Immediate Action, McNab's autobiography, spent 18 weeks at the top of the bestseller lists following the lifting on an ex-parte injunction granted to the Ministry of Defence in September 1995. To date, Immediate Action has now sold over 1.4 million copies in the UK.
McNab is the author of seven fast action thrillers, highly acclaimed for their authenticity and all Sunday Times bestsellers. Published in 1997, Remote Control was hailed as the most authentic thriller ever written and has sold over half a million copies in the UK. McNab's subsequent thrillers, Crisis Four, Firewall, Last Light , Liberation Day , Dark Winter , Deep Black and Aggressor have all gone on to sell equally well. The central character in all the books is Nick Stone, a tough ex-SAS operative working as a 'K' on deniable operations for British Intelligence.
McNab's fiction draws extensively on his experiences and knowledge of Special Forces soldiering. He has been officially registered by Neilsen Bookscan as the bestselling British thriller writer of the last year.
Trained as a specialist in counter terrorism, prime target elimination, demolitions, weapons and tactics, covert surveillance and information gathering in hostile environments, and VIP protection, McNab worked on cooperative operations with police forces, prison services, anti-drug forces and western backed guerrilla movements as well as on conventional special operations. In Northern Ireland he spent two years working as an undercover operator with 14th Intelligence Group, going on to become an instructor.
McNab also worked as an instructor on the SAS selection and training team and instructed foreign special forces in counter terrorism, hostage rescue and survival training.
Andy McNab has written about his experiences in the SAS in two bestselling books, Bravo Two Zero (1993) and Immediate Action (1995). Bravo Two Zero is the highest selling war book of all time and has sold over 1.7 million copies in the UK. To date it has been published in 17 countries and translated into 16 languages. The CD spoken word version of Bravo Two Zero, narrated by McNab, sold over 60,000 copies and earned a silver disc. The BBC's film of Bravo Two Zero, starring Sean Bean, was shown on primetime BBC 1 television in 1999 and released on DVD in 2000.
Immediate Action, McNab's autobiography, spent 18 weeks at the top of the bestseller lists following the lifting on an ex-parte injunction granted to the Ministry of Defence in September 1995. To date, Immediate Action has now sold over 1.4 million copies in the UK.
McNab is the author of seven fast action thrillers, highly acclaimed for their authenticity and all Sunday Times bestsellers. Published in 1997, Remote Control was hailed as the most authentic thriller ever written and has sold over half a million copies in the UK. McNab's subsequent thrillers, Crisis Four, Firewall, Last Light , Liberation Day , Dark Winter , Deep Black and Aggressor have all gone on to sell equally well. The central character in all the books is Nick Stone, a tough ex-SAS operative working as a 'K' on deniable operations for British Intelligence.
McNab's fiction draws extensively on his experiences and knowledge of Special Forces soldiering. He has been officially registered by Neilsen Bookscan as the bestselling British thriller writer of the last year.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
September 1, 2022
I received this book from Netgalley in exchange of an honest review.
I just couldn’t let this book go. Spies? Love it! Zoos/animals? Sign me up! Nathan Reed illustrating? UM YES YES YES! And I am very glad that I read this book because it was tons of fun! I laughed, I cheered, and yes, I was also frustrated (more on that in a bit). This will be a good/eh review, because I am just so tired and I have been meaning to write a review since June 29th (and it is now July 4th). My body is just so so tired all the time.
😍Loved that it took place in a zoo and that we got to see some fun things at the zoo!
😍Loved all the animal facts. Haha, I could relate to Idris, well at least partially. I know when I was around his age I had a time that I was obsessed with animals and facts. Still read a lot about animals, but it isn’t as dedicated as back then. Haha.
😍The spy stuff (not Lucia though) was pretty fun.
😍The illustrations were just fantastic and I really enjoyed them!
😍I loved that these two families had gotten together and that they were having such a good time together. Making meals. Helping each other (well OK, Lucia can learn a lot).
😍The later parts got very exciting and I loved the cute animals.
😍The villain was well written, and sorry, I just want her car. 😛
😍What is going on with Budi, I would also be off my food and get a lot less cheerful if that kept happening.
😍The cover.
😍The title. It was the one thing that attracted me to the book.
🤨It just felt like the writers themselves were pushing the whole zoos are bad agenda. I am glad Idris learned that zoos are good. OK, maybe not all of them, but most are trying their best to help the animals. To make sure they are happy. To make sure the species continues to live. Yes, it may not be the best place, but what do you want to do then? Just let them go extinct?
😒I am sorry Lucia. I don’t like you. I think she goes WAY too far in her obsession with things. We learn that each summer she apparently goes bonkers about a theme and bites into it. Like the time she was totally into cars. But this year she is into spies and doesn’t give a hoot’s ass about anyone’s feelings in the progress. And that bothered me. It is fantastic if you are enthusiastic about a topic and fantastic if you dive well into it. But it is a whole different story when you target the only parent of your stepbrother and just go on and on and on about it while he tries to ask you to stop. To not go there. To just leave it. To not push. I mean, Idris, the stepbrother and our MC, was just not happy in the book. The whole OMG YOUR MOM IS A SPY just made him sad, and I just wanted to give him a hug. Even later when mom gets kidnapped. Instead of Lucia being there a bit more for Idris, she just pushes on, totally obsessing about the tin and what it held. Sure, she got him some cookies and something to drink because she FINALLY noticed that he wasn’t doing well, but before that and right immediately after that? She kept on going on and on and on, while her stepbrother was 1) done with it all and 2) his mom just got freaking KIDNAPPED 3) there are some revelations that shocked him. I just found her incredibly rude and I think she should consider other people’s feelings for once. If someone says NO. Or Hey, quit it. Then stop. Go on in your own time, but don’t bother anyone with it then.
😒 The complete 180 at the end which just felt like, oh we want to write more stories with these characters but we can’t when they are x, so here we go. I just didn’t feel it. Especially with how that character was so opposed to it all until right before that question. It just felt off.
Sadly, these two points were what made me rate the book lower. Lucia is a huge part of the book, almost a second MC, and so having one so annoying and blatantly not caring was just not my cup of tea.
All in all, I did have fun with the book, but I won’t be continuing with the series.
Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com/
I just couldn’t let this book go. Spies? Love it! Zoos/animals? Sign me up! Nathan Reed illustrating? UM YES YES YES! And I am very glad that I read this book because it was tons of fun! I laughed, I cheered, and yes, I was also frustrated (more on that in a bit). This will be a good/eh review, because I am just so tired and I have been meaning to write a review since June 29th (and it is now July 4th). My body is just so so tired all the time.
😍Loved that it took place in a zoo and that we got to see some fun things at the zoo!
😍Loved all the animal facts. Haha, I could relate to Idris, well at least partially. I know when I was around his age I had a time that I was obsessed with animals and facts. Still read a lot about animals, but it isn’t as dedicated as back then. Haha.
😍The spy stuff (not Lucia though) was pretty fun.
😍The illustrations were just fantastic and I really enjoyed them!
😍I loved that these two families had gotten together and that they were having such a good time together. Making meals. Helping each other (well OK, Lucia can learn a lot).
😍The later parts got very exciting and I loved the cute animals.
😍The villain was well written, and sorry, I just want her car. 😛
😍What is going on with Budi, I would also be off my food and get a lot less cheerful if that kept happening.
😍The cover.
😍The title. It was the one thing that attracted me to the book.
🤨It just felt like the writers themselves were pushing the whole zoos are bad agenda. I am glad Idris learned that zoos are good. OK, maybe not all of them, but most are trying their best to help the animals. To make sure they are happy. To make sure the species continues to live. Yes, it may not be the best place, but what do you want to do then? Just let them go extinct?
😒I am sorry Lucia. I don’t like you. I think she goes WAY too far in her obsession with things. We learn that each summer she apparently goes bonkers about a theme and bites into it. Like the time she was totally into cars. But this year she is into spies and doesn’t give a hoot’s ass about anyone’s feelings in the progress. And that bothered me. It is fantastic if you are enthusiastic about a topic and fantastic if you dive well into it. But it is a whole different story when you target the only parent of your stepbrother and just go on and on and on about it while he tries to ask you to stop. To not go there. To just leave it. To not push. I mean, Idris, the stepbrother and our MC, was just not happy in the book. The whole OMG YOUR MOM IS A SPY just made him sad, and I just wanted to give him a hug. Even later when mom gets kidnapped. Instead of Lucia being there a bit more for Idris, she just pushes on, totally obsessing about the tin and what it held. Sure, she got him some cookies and something to drink because she FINALLY noticed that he wasn’t doing well, but before that and right immediately after that? She kept on going on and on and on, while her stepbrother was 1) done with it all and 2) his mom just got freaking KIDNAPPED 3) there are some revelations that shocked him. I just found her incredibly rude and I think she should consider other people’s feelings for once. If someone says NO. Or Hey, quit it. Then stop. Go on in your own time, but don’t bother anyone with it then.
😒 The complete 180 at the end which just felt like, oh we want to write more stories with these characters but we can’t when they are x, so here we go. I just didn’t feel it. Especially with how that character was so opposed to it all until right before that question. It just felt off.
Sadly, these two points were what made me rate the book lower. Lucia is a huge part of the book, almost a second MC, and so having one so annoying and blatantly not caring was just not my cup of tea.
All in all, I did have fun with the book, but I won’t be continuing with the series.
Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com/
July 31, 2022
This is a real fun mission! When Idris finds out his mam is a spy, his world is turned upside down… and add to that a missing pair of pangolins from the zoo and a very keen Lucia and you’ve got a spy-tactic story! Looking forward to the next adventure already!
January 23, 2023
Loved it! Read this story with my daughters at bedtime, a definite 5 stars from all of us - an exciting spy adventure story with a lot of fun characters and great illustrations, some sensitive topics as well but told in an appropriate way for the target readers to understand. We also learnt some interesting facts about animals and now want to visit our local zoo!! Will be adding the next book in the series to our reading wish list.
January 9, 2023
This book is bursting with an exciting energy. This is absolutely terrific for children reading chapter books in the middle grade set. First of all, the illustrations are fun and look visually great, the layout of the text is also fun, making it easy for any child to get their teeth into. There’s also the curious question of whether Idris’s mum is a spy or not and Idris, initially with an eye-popping list, exploding off the page to catch any child’s eye as to why his mum isn’t a spy…. Something that readers will have fun exploring and figuring out who is right - Idris or Lucia.
Lucia’s love of spying really shines through when the news reporter announces the theft of pangolins from the zoo. Pangolins are described well in the book for kids. Readers can explore the zoo, meeting all the great and cute animals, all looked after well in large enclosures as Idris sees the good work zoos do. There’s even a map!
There is also a part that shows a fake palm oil plantation. Older readers may make the connection of palm oil and the depletion of forests and habitats.
The characters are written well. Lucia with her obsessions and imagination - this year it is spies and the slightly more serious Idris and his mum…. who goes mysteriously missing.
Between the adventure and mystery to solve from the zoo, the mild trepidation and danger and the question of Idris’s mum, this is an absolutely brilliantly entertaining fast-paced book.
Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars
Lucia’s love of spying really shines through when the news reporter announces the theft of pangolins from the zoo. Pangolins are described well in the book for kids. Readers can explore the zoo, meeting all the great and cute animals, all looked after well in large enclosures as Idris sees the good work zoos do. There’s even a map!
There is also a part that shows a fake palm oil plantation. Older readers may make the connection of palm oil and the depletion of forests and habitats.
The characters are written well. Lucia with her obsessions and imagination - this year it is spies and the slightly more serious Idris and his mum…. who goes mysteriously missing.
Between the adventure and mystery to solve from the zoo, the mild trepidation and danger and the question of Idris’s mum, this is an absolutely brilliantly entertaining fast-paced book.
Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars
August 28, 2022
I hadn’t heard of this prior to being offered a copy, but I’m so glad I was as I had such fun reading it, and as it’s a younger MG, it was perfect as a read-in-one-sitting palate cleanser between some other things I was reading.
It’s the story of Idris and his (not official, but very close to being) step-sister Lucía, who is obsessed with all things spying and is convinced that Idris’s mum Sarah is in fact a spy. So when some pangolins go missing at the local zoo and Idris’s mum goes missing after she is behaving rather oddly on a trip to see what happened, Lucía is seemingly proven right and she teams up with Idris to get his mum back, and find out what happened to the missing animals too.
Idris is very understandably freaked out by all this, and I think it would be impossible for anyone not to empathise with him. Not to mention the fact he absolutely LOVES animals, which I think is one of the very best traits any person can have. Lucía is absolutely hilarious; she is so clever and funny and again, exactly the type of character I love. The plot is super fun and I liked the little twist we got, and the villain is exactly the type of high fashion, very glam person I am always down to love to hate. Obviously I do not condone her love of furs or being vile to animals, to be clear!!
There is a lovely little hint at the end (the last page made me smile SO MUCH, by the way, special shout out to the illustration there!) about what the next book in the series will be, and I’m definitely planning to pick it up because I just had the best time with this book.
It’s the story of Idris and his (not official, but very close to being) step-sister Lucía, who is obsessed with all things spying and is convinced that Idris’s mum Sarah is in fact a spy. So when some pangolins go missing at the local zoo and Idris’s mum goes missing after she is behaving rather oddly on a trip to see what happened, Lucía is seemingly proven right and she teams up with Idris to get his mum back, and find out what happened to the missing animals too.
Idris is very understandably freaked out by all this, and I think it would be impossible for anyone not to empathise with him. Not to mention the fact he absolutely LOVES animals, which I think is one of the very best traits any person can have. Lucía is absolutely hilarious; she is so clever and funny and again, exactly the type of character I love. The plot is super fun and I liked the little twist we got, and the villain is exactly the type of high fashion, very glam person I am always down to love to hate. Obviously I do not condone her love of furs or being vile to animals, to be clear!!
There is a lovely little hint at the end (the last page made me smile SO MUCH, by the way, special shout out to the illustration there!) about what the next book in the series will be, and I’m definitely planning to pick it up because I just had the best time with this book.
December 5, 2023
Slow to get going, and I almost gave up. But then there was a change of gear and the pace increased. Not a great story, but I did enjoy it.
January 28, 2025
Interesting for the information on pangolins. Totally unbelievable and I'm not sure how I like the idea of asking a child to keep a big secret from their parent.
February 17, 2023
This was a great book to read with my daughter. We appreciated the creative characters that were diverse and felt relatable. My daughter got so caught up in the suspense and thrill of the story. She is excited to read the next one!
August 12, 2023
First of all this book is hilarious I really enjoyed all the facts about animals as I love animals! The illustration is very detailed and impressive! I loved every moment I just couldn’t put it down! I definitely would recommend this book!!! 😍😍
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews