Cammie goes to a secret school for spies, so she hasn't hand much experience with boys (the school being an all girls school). So when she has a mini Covert Mission to go into town, when she meets Josh, she knows nothing can happen between them. But, of course, they're drawn to each other, and are soon boyfriend and girlfriend. But, what would happen if- when?- Josh finds out that almost everything Cammie told him was a lie? and that Gallagher Academy is actually a spy school?
I thought this book was really good. The beginning didn't immediately draw me in, but it got better. My only problem was that since Cammie and Josh didn't talk a lot, you don't totally know why they are attracted to eachother. (That seems to happen in a lot of books.) But, again, I liked this book and almost immediately got the next one, and am looking foward to reading it. ( )

Carter, Ally. I’d Tell You I Love You, But Then I’d Have to Kill You. 2006. Hyperion: New York.
Genre: humorous fiction
Themes: Young adult, spies, first love, boarding school, and friendships.
Age / Grade Appropriateness: Grades 7-10, ages 12-15
Awards: 2007-2008 Texas Lone Star Reading List
2007-2008 Georgia Peach Book Award for Teen Readers
2007 Amelia Bloomer List
Optioned by Disney for movie rights
Plot Summary: Cammie Morgan is a fifteen year old sophomore at the Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women, which is really a school for spies. Cammie has two roommates who are her best friends. Liz is extremely smart but clumsy, not the kill-a-man-with-your-bare-hands type of spy, and Bex is beautiful, extremely confident and a risk taker. Cammie describes herself as a plain, fade into the scenery type of girl, a chameleon who can hide in plain sight. Her mother is a retired CIA agent and the head mistress of the school. Her sophomore year brings with it many changes, including a new Covert Operations teacher, Joe Solomon, who knew Cammie’s dad, and a new roommate, Macey, a spoiled cosmetics heiress. When the girls are sent out on a mission for their Covert Operations class, Cammie meets Josh and starts up a secret relationship. Cammie is enamored with how normal Josh’s life is and makes up what she feels is a normal life as her legend, her make believe life. She tries to date Josh and keep it a secret from her mother and keep Josh from finding out she’s really a Gallagher Girl, because the town kids believe the academy is a snotty boarding school for heiresses. But even though the girls are super smart and can speak in fourteen languages, they have no idea how to act with an ordinary boy.

Critique: This is a cute, humorous book that reads easy. You like Cammie and her friends, even though they are super-smart spies in training, they still suffer from the same problems normal teenage girls do. You see them worrying about what clothes to wear, mooning over a new teacher, and agonizing over boy troubles. It does get a little predictable that some past Gallagher girl will have invented anything mentioned that is remotely spy-related and you get tired of hearing Cammie say how ordinary she is. She is supposed to be a genius, but sometimes she doesn’t make very intelligent decisions and she seems kind of clumsy despite all the special training she has had.
Curriculum Uses: Cammie has to make a decision on what direction she wants to go with her spy-training and whether not she can have so-called normal relationships. I do not feel that this book has a specific place in a school curriculum, but is could go with a grouping of books with “growing up and making decision” themes.

Reviewed by Me for TeensReadToo.com

Welcome to The Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women, an all-girls school located just outside of Roseville, Virginia. Anyone looking at this elite private boarding school would see just what The Gallagher Academy wants you to see--a preppy school for privileged girls, complete with a guardhouse and stone wall to keep the curious away from their precious charges. And they'd be right, of course, and yet they would be so very, very wrong!

Because The Gallagher Academy isn't exactly what it appears to be. It's an elite school, that's for sure, and the only boys who grace its grounds are the male teachers. After that, though, the similarities between The Gallagher Academy and every other elite boarding school in the world ends. Instead of math and reading, English and horseback-riding, the girls who attend this school take courses in Covert Operations, Ancient Languages, Countries of the World, Culture and Assimilation, and Protection and Enforcement. The Gallagher Academy is, in a word, a school for spies.

Cammie Morgan is a second-generation Gallagher girl--her mother, who also attended the school, is now the headmistress. Her two best friends, Liz and Bex, are both super-smart, and the best spies-in-training she knows (except for Liz's lack of coordination, but that's another story). Cammie has spent most of her life inside the walls of The Gallagher Academy, and now that another semester is starting, complete with new CoveOps teacher, hunky Joe Solomon, she's really looking forward to the new school year.

But then things start to get a little out of control. Mr. Solomon seems to know all about Cammie's missing-and-presumed-dead father. She meets a boy in town, Josh, who finally sees her, really sees her, like no one else ever has. After all, she didn't get her nickname, "the chameleon," for nothing. But now Cammie is balancing on a dangerous ledge--knowing that no one outside of the gates of The Gallagher Academy can ever know who she truly is, and wanting nothing more than to spill all of her secrets to Josh.

As lies tangle with truths, as first love duels with obligation, Cammie will need to learn exactly what it means to be a spy, her mother's daughter, and a young girl falling in love.

I'D TELL YOU I LOVE YOU, BUT THEN I'D HAVE TO KILL YOU is a wonderful, laugh-out-loud, action-adventure extravaganza. Filled with plenty of cool gadgets, intriguing teachers, and heart-pounding first-love moments to keep the reader interested, you won't be able to put this book down once you start. A true winner, and I definitely can't wait for a sequel! ( )

Very cool YA book. Wish I'd written it. Fun, action-packed, romantic... it's got it all. Can't wait to read the next one. ( )

I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have To Kill You is about Cammie, Bex, Liz, Marcy, and a boy Josh. The girls are all students at Gallagher's, which the locals are lead to believe is a private girls school for the rich, and elite, but is actually a school for future girl spies. When one of the girls, Cammie, meets Josh, a local town boy at a carnival on a school assignment, of the spy kind, she immediately is drawn to him. The meeting and subsequential like of both of them leads to a double life for Cammie. With her friends help, she succeeds....almost.

This was a quick, fun read. The concept of a all girls spy school is really different, and I loved it. The assignments and cirriculum were fun to read about. The first love aspect was cute, and perfect for a young adult book. It made for a all around good book, with a entertaining plot.

The girls are written tough, smart, and confident. Who doesn't love that? I was definitely rooting for Cammie and Josh. It was interesting how she divided the local kids, and the Gallagher girls. ( )