LS 5623 I’d Tell You I Love You, But Then I’d Have to Kill You

Carter, Ally. I’d Tell You I Love You, But Then I’d Have to Kill You. Hyperion: New York, 2006.

ISBN: 1-4231-0003-4

Cammie “The Chameleon” Morgan attends the Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women. The Gallagher Academy is a spy school though, as Cammie puts it technically “it’s a school for geniuses. . . and we’re free to pursue any career that benefits out exceptional educations. But when a school . . . teaches you things like advances encryption and fourteen different languages, it’s all kind of like big tobacco telling kids not to smoke.” Cammie has always been able to blend into her surroundings seamlessly, hence the nickname of “The Chameleon,” and is quite surprised that when a class assignment takes her and her friends into the local town a boy named Josh sees her. Secrecy and romance are a heady mix for Cammie and she soon realizes that keeping her spy life a secret form Josh can be more trouble than she counted on. Soon her two lives get tangled and the consequences guarantee heartache for both. Will Cammie cope and will Josh figure it out?

Teens will be attracted to this story of a girl and her friends that can do what ordinary kids can’t do. The forbidden attraction between Cammie and Josh give a hint of danger to this breezy read and lend a hint of normalcy to the sometimes outlandish situations Cammie and her friends get into. Cammie also struggles with what’s right, in obeying her mom and behaving properly, with what she wants to do: sneak out of her dorm to meet Josh when she knows she shouldn’t; what teen hasn’t felt the need to rebel? I’d Tell You That I Love But Then I’d Have to Kill You lets teens live vicariously through a character that gets to do things only characters like James Bond or Lara Croft can do.

The July, 2006 edition of School Library Journal states the book will “likely attract readers who enjoy lighthearted, frothy tales and squeaky-clean romances.” Teens who enjoyed this book will want to check out the three (so far) sequels or the Alex Rider series by Anthony Horowitz.