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This book was awesome! It's about spies, love, and fighting....what can get better than that? Cammie Morgan goes to the Gallagher Academy, who everyone thinks is a normal boarding school for girl geniuses, but it's actually a girls' spy school! Soon Cammie finds herself in love with a local boy who thinks she's normal like everybody else. Can it work out? There was this page where there was a printing problem, because it repeated the same page twice, and canceled a page....so I'm kind of annoyed at that. But the book itself was awesome! ( )

Recommended Ages: Gr. 7-10

Plot Summary: Cammie, Bex, and Liz are surprised when a new bed is added to their room at Gallagher Academy for Macey, the snooty daughter of a politician who doesn't have any ties to the world of spies. On Cammie's first Covert Operation, Josh spots her in town and they spark a friendship based on Cammie lying about who she is: she pretends she's homeschooled and has a cat). When Cammie confides to her friends that a boy spotted her, the Chameleon, she relies and them and Macey, resident boy expert, to help her through her first boyfriend.

Setting: Just outside Roseville, VA at the Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Woman

Characters:
Cammie (Cameron Morgan) - main character, 15 y/o
Cammie's mom - headmaster of Gallagher
Cammie's dad - disappeared during spy mission, assumed dead
Bex (Rebecca Baxton) - best friend
Macey McHenry - daughter of politician, snobby, let into the school even though she doesn't have any connections to the spy world
Mr. Joe Soloman - new professor, "hottie"
Mr. Fibs - professor
Josh Abrams - Cammie's crush, parents own pharmacy, want him to take over business
Professor Buckingham - professor
Mr. Smith - professor who changes his appearance every year

Recurring Themes: friendship, spies, family, loss of parent, secrets, first love

Controversial Issues: Cammie gets her first kiss (very PG); Cammie frequently sneaks out of the Academy to see Josh; They're spies, so they know how to be secretive and how to beat someone up

Personal Thoughts: This is a very smartly-written romance. There's action and adventure with the romance at the forefront.

While Gallager Academy appears to be your typical boarding school for wealthy, genius girls, it is anything but. It's spy school for geniuses. Girls learn fourteen different languages, lethal hand-to-hand combat, and covert ops. This has been Cammie's world. Her mother is headmistress and her dad, before he died, was CIA. Cammie is destined to be a spy. Part of what makes her good is her ability to blend in like a chameleon. But then one night out on assignment a local boy notices her. Not only is he hot, he's also genuinely nice. Gallager Girls, though, are not allowed to mix with local boys, so Cammie has to create a cover. Complications and comedy ensue. This is a charming and funny read with likable well-developed characters that touches on themes of honesty, friendship and love--both the boyfriend kind and the mom kind. ( )

Reviewed by Anna (Class of 2010)
The Gallagher Academy says it's an all girl school for Geniuises but in reality it's a school for girl spies. ( )

This book, while an enjoyable read, takes on too many subjects--first love, new roommates, teenage spy--without focusing on any of them. The spy twist on boarding school was fun, but a bit light at times, making it seem like a game between friends, not a reality like it was meant to be. Despite all this I would recommend this light read to anyone who wants a simple book with a stronger heroine. ( )

Cute book, very light-hearted and smart. ( )

hugger ( )

This was the book that started my passion for Gallagher Girls. The fact that there could be elite girls out there who can do things this amazing astounds me. I enjoyed Cammie's tribulations as she tried to date Josh Abrams, an average boy. This was a very exciting book and I was crying waiting for its sequel to release. ( )

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. ( )

Nothing in Cammie's spy training has prepared her for her first relationship with a cute, normal boy. Sure, she can hack his computer and tap his phone, but how do you have a relationship with someone who can never know the truth about you?

Second book in a great series. It is interesting, exciting, romantic and clean-a rarity in todays market. Highly recommend for teens, young adults, and anyone who wants a little armchair adventure. ( )

Very fluffy and fun. Cammie goes to a boarding school for secret spies, but the townies think all the Gallagher Girls are really rich snobs. While on a "mission" for one of her classes, she meets a boy in town. Taking down bad guys and speaking several languages Cammie can handle - but her first crush? Dangerous! If I can get the rest of the books in the series from the library, I'll read 'em. ( )

Modesty Blaze for the tween set - this was a hilarious read after watching two seasons of Burn Notice. And for a story set in a super secret spy academy, the relationships were drawn with more depth than I'd expected. This was better than the title implies. ( )

I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have To Kill You is exactly what it looks like by the cover. It is a chick-flick disguised as a book. I found it to be an easy read, entertaining and enjoyable, but not real stimulating or full of substance. I will admit though, I am looking forward to reading the next one in the series. ( )

This was a very easy book to read. I think that overall this book would be great as a free choice reading book for middle school girls. A strength of this book is the language used. It is written very well, so that weaker readers can be very comfortable. A weakness of the book would be that it really doesn't have a strong plot line. ( )

This series is a great book for girls. The girls in this novel are smart and don't try to hide it! ( )

I enjoyed this book tremendously as a quick and fun read. Not heavy or deep, just light-hearted and easy. I might even read the sequel. Takes place in a boarding school for exceptional girls who are being trained to become spies. The protagonist's mother is the headmistress and a former spy. Lots of funny asides by the author and believable feelings on the part of the characters. Nice little romance as well. ( )

had high hopes for this book. I think the concept has oodles of potential, and the characters are fun and likeable. Yet somehow this story fell just a little flat for me. I liked it, I would even read the next book in the series, but without significant improvement, The Gallagher Girls series won't be topping my recommendation list.

I've put some thought into interpreting my reaction to the book, and I think my issue is this: there isn't enough of a challenge for the characters in this book. Here they are, butt-kicking super-spy chicks, and the worst thing they have to face is a final exam? Or sneaking out to the movies? It was entertaining, but it just didn't GRAB me. This book felt a little like an extended exposition, getting the characters and situations set up, but not really getting into the main story. I'll be interested to see if the second of the series has more oomph to it. ( )

I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have To Kill You was a pretty fun read with not as much intensity as James Bond and Indiana Jones, but it definitely has its girlish charms! I think sometimes the spy stuff was laid on a little thick, but some of the spy gear and how the girls overreacted to the "normal" world was pretty entertaining! When you first get used to the Academy, it reminded me a lot of Hogwarts without the magic and ghosts - but perhaps a lot more secret passageways.

The ending seemed to rush as the excitement and suspense all rolled into each other as the Gallagher Girls embarked on their CoveOps finals and Cammie decides if Josh should know that she is actually not a "normal" home-schooled, cat-loving girl who likes to pass notes via a loose brick on the wall.

I really liked how the girls would apply their spy skills to scouting Josh out and figuring out if he liked Cammie. It was pretty amusing to see them try to decipher "boy talk," and certainly any girl can relate to that, spy or not. ( )

Cameron is starting her sophomore year at the Gallagher Academy. Gallagher girls are tough, genius, and training to be spies. When Cammie meets a handsome normal boy in town during a covert ops exercise, her world turns upside down. She has to choose sides between romance and friendship, not to mention decide the direction of her future. I'm anxious to continue on with the series. ( )

THIS IS A AMAZING BOOK!!!!!! Have you ever wondered how all the great female spies came to be??? They went to the Gallagher Academy! That is the school i want to go to. this book mixes cool spy/action/gadgets with teenage girls. Cameron can hack CIA codes, speak 14 languges, and kill a guy with a piece of uncooked spaghetti. She is ready for any thing... except falling in love. When she falls for a ordinary boy, josh, she does what she is good at. She can hack his email, sneak into his house, tap his phone, and stalk him through town, but can she get him to see who she really is with out blowing her cover? Read this book to find out! ( )