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Literature / Mrs. Smith's Spy School For Girls: Power Play

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Mrs. Smith's Spy School For Girls: Power Play is a Children's-to-Middle Graders' Spy Novel by Beth McMillen. It's the sequel to Mrs. Smith's Spy School for Girls.

There's been some changes to Mrs. Smith's Boarding School since Abigail Hunter's enrollment and discovery of their secret spy program. Her mom is acting headmaster, and changes Abby doesn't like are being made (like getting rid of the macaroni and cheese from the school lunch menu), and also changes that she likes (like getting rid of the Angry Guard Dogs that used to prowl the grounds at night).

Of course, the biggest change is one that the headmistress had no control over, the release of "Monster Mayhem". A game about traveling to various places with the purpose of capturing monsters to level up. The game, made by Toby's dad, Drexel Caine, has taken the world by storm.

Anyway, after a strange explosion during a morning meeting, Abby finds that Toby has been sent a message to get five epic platinum-level monsters. What does he get in return? His dad's freedom. And he must keep it secret.

So naturally, he tells Abby.

Either way, soon, Abby and her friends are caught up in trying to help Toby catch all the monsters he can, while also dealing with the upcoming Fake Prom.

The book was published on July 3rd, 2018. The third book in the series, Mrs. Smith's Spy School For Girls: Double Cross was published in 2019.


Mrs. Smith's Spy School For Girls: Power Play contains examples of:

  • Added Alliterative Appeal: The new game that everyone is playing is called "Monster Mayhem".
    • One of the monsters in the game is called the Mogollon Monster.
  • Badass in Distress: Veronica.
  • Bound and Gagged: Abby finds Veronica tied to a chair with a gag in her mouth in the decrepit mansion Zachary's using as a base.
  • Cannot Keep a Secret: Abby. Not long after Toby tells her about his situation, she tells it to Izumi and Charlotte.
  • Class Trip: Early on in the book, Ms. Duanne and Mr. Lord take Abby's class on a class trip to Paris. It's at this trip that Toby escapes the class and strikes out on his own to play Menace's game.
  • Damsel in Distress: Late in the book, Izumi and Charlotte and Veronica end up kidnapped by Menace's henchmen.
  • Distressed Dude: Drexel Caine, Toby's father, who's being held hostage by Menace (aka, Zachary Hazard).
  • Expy: Monster Mayhem is very obviously Pokémon GO.
  • Sunglasses at Night: Abby, Izumi, Charlotte, and Veronica are driven by boat to the spy college by a man who is literally wearing sunglasses at night. Abby even lampshades in her narration that it was amazing he could see anything.
  • Tae Kwon Door: Veronica knocks out one of the guards with the door to the room she was being held in.
  • We Used to Be Friends: Zachary Hazard used to be friends with Toby until something went down between them. Zachary blames Toby for the whole thing, which is why he's specifically targeting him.

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