Retro Tuesday: Gallagher Girls series by Ally Carter

Our favorite teen has been bugging us to read this series for ages, and since the third one (Don't Judge a Girl by Her Cover) is in the Scholastic Book Fair, we thought this might be a good time.
 
Note to selves: listen to the teen a little more often!
 
Our main character, Cammie, attends what appears to be an elite boarding school for snooty rich girls. In actuality, it is a training school for spies, where PE class becomes P & E (Protection and Enforcement, and a game of "Rock, Paper, Scissors" can result in trips to the infirmary.) A little suspension of disbelief is needed (we don't care how well-trained they are, there is no way that many seventh grade girls can keep a secret year after year), but these are very enjoyable reads. Loads of funny lines you will want to read out loud, and while some outcomes are predictable there are still plenty of surprises popping up.
 
In short, balanced enough that most teenage girls (and a few adults) looking for a fun read will enjoy them, engaging enough that we will be watching for the rest of the series. For those who are already fans, we recommend the Agency series by Y.S. Lee - watch for our review of the first book, A Spy in the House, as soon as we can get it back from the aforementioned teen! We give the Gallagher Girl series a
 
4 out of 5.