The spy who raised me by Ted Anderson

Illustrated by Gianna Meola 

Josephine, or J. B. to her friends, is your typical C-average student in high school who finishes in the middle of the pack in PE and gets Cs or high Ds on her French tests.  One day, when accosted by agents demanding to know about her actions in France on a recent "business trip" with her mom, J. B. finds out she’s actually an operative for The Company, and she’s been brainwashed into not remembering her skills, training, or missions. What’s worse, is that this was all done to her by her mother, who wants J. B. to have job security within The Company! J. B. has never been in control of her full self, so it’s time to change all that and fight back against The Company and other forces that are trying to control and use her.

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This is a very action-packed story, almost to the detriment of other parts of the story. Very early on, J. B. goes along with he friend Zoe to try to figure out how to get free of The Company, but Zoe doesn’t have very much dimension. She’s a helpful friend, but she has almost the same voicing and even illustrated mannerisms as J. B. At one point, the characters point out how ridiculous this all sounds, and I couldn’t agree with them more. There are a lot of convenient scenes where J. B. has exactly the right skill set to outsmart everything, including operatives who have been training their entire lives. She’s just that good, apparently. The art is also really simple, but action sequences are easy to follow. This was interesting for a low-stakes, fun, easy read, but don’t go looking for monumental character or plot development.

Sara’s Rating: 5/10
Suitability Level: Grades 5-8

​This review was made possible with an advanced reader copy from the publisher through Net Galley.

Publisher: Graphic Universe
Publication Date: April 6, 2021
ISBN: 9781541532403 (Hardcover)

Tags: Rating: 5/10, Suitability: Elementary School, Suitability: Middle School, Graphic Fiction, Action Adventure, Family, Graphic Universe