Mac Undercover (Mac B., Kid Spy #1)

Barnett takes his readers on a fun-filled ride...Barnett's tone throughout the story is humorous, lighthearted, and a little glib, and the over-the-top story is sure to appeal to many readers...an enjoyable romp that will leave readers salivating for the sequel.

Barnett's knack for both quirky situational humor and heartfelt sentiment work in tandem to create a balanced-while still outrageous-early-chapter-book caper. Lowery's frequent cartoony black, yellow, and blue spot illustrations are integral to the narrative, providing clues to eagle-eyed readers and enhancing the humor.

Gr 3-6--Barnett and Lowery bring the funny to the serious art of espionage in a perfect interplay of text and illustration. Barnett, known for his award-winning picture book collaborations with Jon Klassen (The Wolf, the Duck, and the Mouse; Sam and Dave Dig a Hole), slyly premises this "childhood memoir" by explaining how he works as an author, i.e. someone who gets to make stuff up. Young readers will not get too hung up on the ins and outs of truth vs. fiction as young Mac B., kid spy, ventures from his home in California to England to fulfill a secret mission for the Queen. Along the way, he loses his Game Boy on the plane, suspects the KGB, talks crumpets vs. cookies with her Majesty, teams up with Freddie the corgi, steals art from the Louvre, and learns he reached a higher score on SpyCraft than the King of France. Throughout, Barnett interweaves tidbits of global history fit for trivia lovers, while Lowery's comic-style images play a key role in the humor, from imagining why the Mona Lisa smiles, to depicting the Queen with goofy unicorn pajamas, and topping it off with an ending page bound to provoke giggles. VERDICT Told with a sense of nostalgia for 1980s history and pop culture, the silliness and originality of this book will hook young readers.--Jennifer Gibson, Keuka College, NY

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

"One minute you are just a kid. The next minute you are a secret agent for the Queen of England," deadpans a boy named Mac, who narrates Barnett's (The Terrible Two) riotous series debut as an adult recalling a 1980s childhood caper, insisting that the story is true. After receiving a call from the Queen tasking him with finding missing Crown Jewels, Mac flies to London. When he arrives at the Tower of London, the Queen suddenly appears, surrounded by a dozen corgis, and distills some British historical jargon, including "regicide" ("my least favorite type of 'cide, ' " the monarch quips) before outlining the case. Mac's madcap quest takes him to Paris and Moscow, where he encounters the French president and a KGB officer before returning the stolen British heirloom and the Mona Lisa. Some unfortunate caricatures--French people portrayed as rude, Soviets yearning for American jeans--may detract from the narrative for some, but goofy, two-color pictures by Lowery (the Doodle Adventures series) ramp up the silliness of this adventure (kids will snicker at the sight of Mac flying home in his tighty-whities), which should snare even the most hesitant readers. Ages 7-10. Author's agent: Steven Malk, Writers House. (Sept.)

Copyright 2018 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

Praise for Mac Undercover

"Barnett's series falls squarely in line with works from Jon Scieszka's and Dav Pilkey's oeuvres, offering kids another solid choice for what to read next." — The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

"Funny as a crumpet. (But truly, secretly a hundred times smarter.)"—Jon Scieszka, author of Caldecott Honor The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales and the New York Times bestselling series Frank Einstein.

"With a perfectly absurd premise, dialogue that demands outlandish accents, and a plot that interweaves global history and complete silliness, Barnett royally nails it." —Abby Hanlon, author of the Dory Fantasmagory series.

Praise for Mac Barnett:

"[Mac Barnett is] a great young writer of books for young people. If you haven't read his work, run somewhere and do that. Books for young people have a rich and I daresay limitless future—knock anyone who says otherwise into a ditch—and Mac has a central place within that limitless future. Don't bet against him or anyone like him." —Dave Eggers

"[In Barnett's books] there is no magic solution to any problem: The characters stumble through their dilemmas just as every one of us does. The world is a difficult yet good place, and there is no need for the typical rose-colored lenses that other children's books put on situations in order to fend off the bad stuff." —Yiyun Li

"He is a believer that picture books can have Swiftian absurdity and untidy endings, and that 'life is absurd, and kids know that.'"— The San Francisco Chronicle