This article first appeared in the NY Journal of Books on 5 March 2024.

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Evil Spy School the Graphic Novel is the third release in the Spy School graphic novel series created by Stuart Gibbs and illustrated by Anjan Sarkar. The first book in the New York Times bestselling author’s elementary- and middle-grade Spy School series was published in non-graphic novel form in 2012. Since then, ten more books have been added to the series, the last, Spy School Goes North, in 2023. In 2022, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers began releasing Gibbs’ Spy School series as graphic novels. 

In Evil Spy School, 12-year-old Ben Ripley gets kicked out of the CIA’s youth spy school when he accidentally shoots a live mortar into the principal’s office during a spy school game of Capture the Flag. Not long after returning to his boring school in the boring real world, Ben accepts an invitation to join evil crime organization SPYDER. Ben knows that he’s important to their wicked plan, but they never reveal to him what that plan actually is. Meanwhile, Ben finds himself in a clandestine mission of a disparate group in the CIA, and his very life—and those of everyone in New York—depend on his ability to figure out and prevent whatever SPYDER is up to. 

As with Gibbs’ other five book series, Evil Spy School is fun, fast-paced, and entertaining. Though fantastical to us adults, the plot of Evil Spy School contains precisely the kinds of twists and turns that engage elementary and young middle-school minds. In this way, it is much like the successful Disney television series Lab Rats, which follows the adventures of three bionic teenagers. Evil Spy School also introduces interesting nuggets of real-world information that are worth your child’s (and your) further investigation, such as the fact that The Statue of Liberty sits atop Fort Wood, one in a line of defenses protecting New York City and its harbor since 1808 and occupied as an army post by the War Department until 1937.

Your child doesn’t have to read the previous two books in Gibbs’ Spy School series to understand what is going on in Evil Spy School, but chances are they will want to. Fortunately the order doesn’t really matter. Even better, if your child enjoys reading any one of the Spy School books, there are plenty more to look forward to. And this graphic novel series relies heavily on illustrations, many of which have no words, whatsoever, so even challenged readers will take pride in turning the pages. What parent or teacher doesn’t appreciate age-appropriate books that their child wants to binge read?