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We're chatting with the amazing Ally Carter at 6 p.m. Pacific, 9 p.m. Eastern. Her latest Gallagher Girls book is on the New York Times bestseller list for the fourth week.

If you've never used Twitter before, here's how to do it:

First, create a Twitter account if you don’t have one already. It’s easy and free, and all you need is an e-mail address.

From here, there are two choices:

• Log onto Twitter at 6 p.m. Pacific, 9 p.m. Eastern.
• Type @officiallyally plus your question, followed by #rgz. This asks Ally your question and funnels it into the readergirlz chat stream.
• To follow along the chat, go here (the #rgz Twitter stream).

OR (and this is easier, we think)...

• Go to TweetChat (http://tweetchat.com/). 
• Enter in the rgz hashtag in the box on top of the page. 
• Then, sign in to Twitter (there's a button on the top right). 
• Type @officiallyally into your questions. The hashtag will be added automatically.

Going forward, you’ll be able to follow rgz and lots of your favorite authors on Twitter. You can find us and everyone we follow here: http://twitter.com/readergirlz

Questions? Post them in the comments and we'll take care of you.

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Featured Author Ally Carter hand-picked songs for the playlist that accompanies Only the Good Spy Young this month (and how cool is that peek at the mix, left?). Listen to the full soundtrack with the player in the right-hand sidebar or in the July issue!

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Cammie knows how to kick some butt in the Gallagher Girls books, and we should all be prepared to defend ourselves. That's why one of our July spotlights is on the Fight the Fear Campaign.

In July 2009, two women were attacked in their own home. Tragically, one of them, Teresa Butz, was killed; her partner courageously survived the attack. Shortly thereafter, the Fight the Fear Campaign was born.

Called "a quest for confidence through strength," this community-oriented violence prevention initiative provides free self-defense training and violence prevention education to women. The group is based in Seattle and hosts workshops which are open to all women. (Our own Liz Gallagher has attended; see her story here.)

Fight the Fear will be holding a workshop specifically for girls ages 11-17 on August 8th from 11 AM to 1 PM. To register, email [email protected]

If you attend this or other related events, please let us know! Email [email protected].

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Hey rgz!

You know I always say rgz is for girls and...really smart guys. One of the best guys around our community is Book Chic.

Recently, he was at ALA and caught the above photo with our featured author, Ally! So cute, right?

Thanks for sharing and hanging with us, Book Chic. And, everyone, let your guy friends know they are welcome. :~) Now. back to talking about all things spy-ish...

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Hello, Readergirlz!

Thanks so much for having me! I’m such a huge fan of the site, the books, and of course the Readergirlz themselves that it’s an absolute honor to be here.

I’m very excited to be sharing the launch of Only the Good Spy Young with all of you. As those of you who are up-to-date with the series already know, Cammie Morgan has found herself in quite a predicament, and I’m just as anxious as all of you to find out if she and the Gallagher Girls are going to find a way out of this one!

Overall, the fourth Gallagher Girls book wasn’t the hardest one to write (that honor goes to Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy), but it was full of its own kind of challenges: who can Cammie trust? What can she do? How can she go about her junior year in a way that is both safe and smart without being a wallflower, standing on the sidelines of her own life?

From the beginning, I knew this was going to be a “big” book in terms of what Cammie learns, how she grows, and what has to happen next. I sincerely hope you’re as excited to read what happens next as I was to write it.

Thanks again so much for having me, and happy reading!
Ally

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Ally says, "Cammie has always seen herself as a 'chameleon.' Have you ever felt that way?"

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Heist Society by Ally Carter. Disney Hyperion Books. Publication date February 2010. Young Adult. Reviewed from Uncorrected Advance Proof from publisher.

The Plot: Katarina Bishop, 15, ran away to boarding school with the hopes of leaving her family and her past life behind her. Alas, just when she thinks she is out, they pull her back in.

The family business? Stealing. Long and short cons, pick a pocket or two.

A powerful criminal believes that Kat's father, Bobby Bishop, stole his art collection. The only way to save her father? Find the real thief and steal back the collection. Kat is rusty from being out of the game; and it's more than a one person job. She's going to need all the help she can get to pull off this heist.

The Good: What is good? Every. single. page. Likable characters that you want to spend time with, plenty of humor, great action, a wee bit of art history, a variety of exciting locations, strong female characters, and cute guys. What more does a reader want?

You know the crew from Ocean's Eleven? Now imagine that they had kids who are now teenagers; teens raised in the world of cons and stealing. That is Kat's world; the one she tried to leave, because, you know -- stealing. Kat gets dragged back to save her father (when this movie is made, and I cannot believe it's not optioned yet, George Clooney has got to play Bobby Bishop). Kat's resurfacing in this strange world is a brilliant literary choice of the author; because as Kat is reintroduced to her old world, so is the reader introduced. This avoids the sometimes necessary but always awkward infodumps of background information; instead, it's information woven into the story and Kat's story and Kat's return.

Just as you cannot watch the crime capers such as Ocean's Eleven and The Sting and think "but that's ILLEGAL" (cause that type of thinking, friend, ruins the fun) so too can you not think that way about Heist Society. Even if you were going to get all moralistic, Carter gives a story line where the so-called owners of the art are as far from sympathetic and morally correct as you can get.

Kat is smart and knows her stuff, as befits

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For today's enjoyment, I bring you two books about teen spies. Because, what's better than teen spies? Nothing.

Don't Judge a Girl by Her Cover Ally Carter

The third book in the Gallagher Girls series, this one sees Macey's senator father running for vice-president. Cammie goes to visit Macey on the campaign trail and foils a kidnapping attempt. When school starts, the girls must balance their spy-training coursework with a busy campaign schedule, and the fact that someone is after them and no one will tell them anything.

This is a little different from the previous books, because in them, the girls were never in any danger. One of my favorite things about the Gallagher Girls series is that it never puts minors in harm's way, which is a conceit used in most other books of this genre. This one, however, features tons to real danger and real-life situations that the girls have to use their spy-training to get out of. Now, the adults don't want them in danger, and do everything they can to keep the kids out of it, BUT, when someone is actively trying to kidnap you, you're bound to run into trouble. Lots of action, suspense, cool spy stuff, and boys that mess with your mind. What more could you want?

Fans of the series need to check it out, but you need to read the earlier ones first, I think.

Now, I'm super-intrigued to see what the ARC read like. I can't find the post, but I swear to all that I'm sure Liz B blogged about the fact she was warned there were significant differences between the ARC and the final book.

Spy High Mission One AJ Butcher

Bond Team is not getting along. They have one more chance to beat the virtual simulation test, or they're getting their memories wiped and getting kicked out of Spy High. No one wants that, but no one's willing to put their differences and egos aside to start working as team, which is the only way they'll pass. Then, the head of their school has another idea that sends them straight into the face of danger, but might be the only way to get them to work together.

Ok, this is one of those where the plot is absolutely redonkulous (but mutants are always cool, so it's ok!) the characters are stock and flat, but I still rather enjoyed it. This is a fun, fast read. Some of the characters annoyed me (Hi Ben! You suck!) but the plot was fast paced and so ludicrous it was awesome. Was it good? No. Am I glad I read it? Totally.

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Cammie is excited to visit her friend Macy in Boston at the political convention where Macy’s father will accept the nomination for vice president. The last thing Cammie expects is to have to use her Gallagher Academy training when they are surrounded by Secret Service Agents but Gllagher girls are taught to always be prepared so when Cammie finds herself without Secret Service Agents in the

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by Ally Carter

I want to be a spy.
I'm serious, I really, truly do. (Please don't laugh!) As in, I ache a little when I read about such things. Books like the Gallagher Girls series (of which this is the third), the Kiki Strike series, Genius Squad, etc. all make me want to be an honest-to-goodness teen spy or detective or something like that.

Don't Judge a Girl By Her Cover starts at the end of summer vacation, but quickly moves into the girls' junior year at the Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women. (FYI: you're going to want to read the previous two books in order to appreciate this one.) Cammie's pal Macey is under the eye of the world as Macey's father runs for vice president of the US. As threats and kidnapping attempts surround Macey's new life, it seems as if the girl she used to be is slowly getting lost under her new cover....

It was perfect timing to read this, with the book's prominent election theme being particularly intriguing. (Since we ourselves have been currently gearing up in real life for a historical Election Day happening today!) There were times while reading when the pacing felt a little off and I really wished I could hear more about the girls' new classes. But overall I enjoyed it very much. Plenty of action, suspense, and a bit of character-development. A couple of new characters were introduced, both of whom I grew to be quite fond of.

I'll be interviewing the author for the upcoming Winter Blog Blast Tour, so stay tuned for that. Meanwhile, I'm looking into a summer spy camp offered by a college on the East Coast....

(disclaimer: sorry, guys, this book won't be released till June '09...)

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Today in Ypulse Books, our Alli posts about YA author Ally Carter's response to the question, "How much should I 'lower' my writing when writing for teens?" and adds her own thoughts on the topic. And in Ypulse Book... Read the rest of this post

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You know how I said I was doing a lot of spy book reading lately? Yeah. This is a really long post.

First up,

Down to the Wire Shannon Greenland

Y'all know I loved the first in this series, Model Spy. The Specialists are back, but this time, it's Wirenut's case.

But GiGi is still narrating. The action starts with how Wirenut was conned into joining the Specialists, and then jumps to Gigi's narration of the action picking up where the last book left off. It's a little weird.

Basically, the guy who hacked Wirenut's family to death is hiding some top-secret biological weapon in the handle of the sword that was used to hack his family to death. Wirenut's the only one who can break into the museums to get the clues to lead to the sword, GiGi's the only one who can decode the clues...

Murder. Mayhem, some girls, some kissing, and a whole lot of David-related angst.

All the techno babble is utter crap, and the countries are made up but... I still get totally sucked into these books and can't wait for the rest of the series. Excellent titles for reading while lying in the hammock on a hot day.

The Squad: Perfect Cover Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Toby Klein is the ultimate slacker, so why is she being invited to try out for Varsity Cheerleading?! Something weird is going on, especially since Toby's cheer invites are being written in code.

Fast forward. Toby's on the squad, only cheerleading is a cover for a group of elite teen CIA operatives. Cheerleaders are peppy and dumb, right? Wrong, but it's the perfect cover for girls like Toby with ninja-like martial arts skills and hacker skills to beat GiGi's from The Specialists. Sadly, being on the squad means getting a Level 6 makeover (which means that the cheerleading twins have come in and completely replaced Toby's closet.) Sure, her new trendy belt buckle doubles as a camera, but her new highlights are just that, highlights. And Toby's dorky brother? In loooooooooooooooooove with cheerleaders and thinks he is quite the ladies man. (He's not.)

Toby is now one of those girls. Yes, catching terrorists is cool, but she does still have to learn how to do pyramids and something called a herkie...

Here's why I love this: The technology is vaguely plausible (in that James Bond way). Also, Toby does NOT appreciate going from invisible girl to overnight in-crowd. She doesn't handle it well. Toby's voice is perfect sarcasm. I love her.

Example (Hayley is pissed off that she didn't make the squad and Toby did. She's been spreading gossip and the rest of the squad keeps telling Toby to ignore it.):

"Well, I heard that she's a complete lezbo who's sleeping with one of the other girls on the squad. Can you say casting couch?"

I had to hand it to Hayley Hoffman. She was creative and she must have had an excellent command of acoustics, because she pitched her voice just loud enough so that I could hear her, but not loud enough that Tara, Bubbles, or April could. I thought about just sucking it up and taking my place at the center table, but I couldn't quite bring myself to turn the other cheek, because the fact that Hayley was using that particular term as an insult meant that her words weren't just insulting me. With that in mind, I waled toward the JV table, ready to draw blood, metaphorically speaking. Probably.

That awesome, awesome voice continues in:

The Squad: Killer Spirit Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Check it out:

Less than an hour ago, all I'd wanted was detention. Now, I was nominated for homecoming court and going to the big dance with the hottest guy in the school. Somewhere out there, God was laughing at me. I was sure of it.

And that sets up the plot. There are a ton of baddies in town, and the Squad isn't the only crew tracking them. The Big Guys keep trying to take away the case and Brooke's trying to keep control. Plus, Toby's on homecoming court and Noah's trying to do anything possible to make her queen. Someone's trying to kill Toby. If the mission succeeds and Toby survives, Brooke will take her out if she steals the crown... what's a cheerleader to do?

What I liked about this is the stakes were a little higher, but we also learned some info on Brooke that rounded her out a bit as a character.

I'm looking forward to future volumes, but can't find if any are forthcoming... :(

I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You Ally Carter

Cammie Morgan goes to en elite boarding school. Everyone else thinks it's where the daughters of the country's richest go, but really, it's a boarding school for spies in training.

They only take the best and the brightest and they take classes in foreign language and covert operations. When they grow up, the NSA and CIA are ready to take them.

Cammie Morgan may speak over 14 languages, but none of them is "boy." When she starts falling for a boy from town, it's up to her and her friends to use all their training to find out if he likes her not.

This is fun. I really like that Cammie and Co. don't go on any missions to save the world. Unlike these other books, where kids are thrown into hardcore situations with only a month or two of training, Cammie is getting a complete education and not going on any serious missions until then.

Not that she can't find other uses for her skills...

Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy Ally Carter

After what happened last semester, something new is coming to Gallagher Academy. Boys. Boys will be taking classes and training with the girls.

But who are these boys and why are they really here? And who's been leaking Gallagher information to the outside world?

And what could be more mortifying than running into your ex-boyfriend and his new girlfriend while you're wearing a comms unit that your entire class and teacher can hear over?!

If you liked the first, you'll like this. More action, more intrigue, even though I guess the ending, I still liked reading it.

James Bond, you're on. Girls are coming to get you.

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