I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You

Bibliographic Information: Carter, A. (2006). I'd tell your I love you, but then I'd have to kill you. Grand Haven: Brilliance Audio.

Plot Summary: Cammie Morgan attends the Gallagher Academy For Exceptional Young Women.  Under the guise of a boarding school for gifted girls, the school actually operates as a school for future CIA spies.  Spying come naturally to Cammie, but that isn’t surprising considering her mother is the headmistress of the school, and her father lost his life while on a spy mission.  Her fourth year at the Gallagher Academy introduces her to her first Covert Operations class, taught by the vary handsome Joe Solomon, a new addition to the Gallagher faculty.  During their first covert mission, the girls are assigned to spy of one of their teachers.  During the mission, Cammie is left behind and she meets Josh, a kid from town, and sparks fly.  Cammie struggles between keeping her true identity a secret, and building a relationship with Josh based on lies.  She eventually gets caught in her web of lies, but will Josh understand?

Critical Evaluation: Ally Carter’s novel, I’d Tell You I Love You, But Then I’d Have to Kill You, is a story appealing to younger teens.  The main character, Cammie Morgan, parades through the novel hindered only by her predicament between love and spy school.  Her conflicts are far from the rough issues teens deal with in novels like Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson.  Carter gives Cammie’s character some depth through the ongoing grief she encounters from losing her father, a world class spy, but it isn’t long until Cammie loses herself in thoughts about her boyfriend Josh.  The setting, spy school, is the most appealing aspect of the book, as it provides an environment different from most adolescent experiences.  Spy school is cool, and the fact that The Gallagher Academy is strictly a school for girls, breaks the stereotype that only boys are spies.  Hopefully in future installments of the Gallagher Girls series, Cammie can exercise more of her spy skills.

Reader’s Annotation: Welcome to spy school.  Today is Tuesday, which means you may only speak French, a welcome relief from yesterday’s Latin conversations, and hopefully you completed you Covert Operations homework, because that is one class you do not want to fail.

Information about the author: I’d Tell You I Love You, but Then I’d Have to Kill You was Ally Carter’s first YA novel, and part of a six-part series with the sixth and final novel due to hit shelves in 2013.  After growing up on a ranch in Oklahoma, Carter attended Oklahoma State University and Cornell University, and worked in the agricultural industry.

           Carter feels very grateful that she is able to write full-time because it is something she has wanted to do since she was a little girl.  She has published another YA series, Heist Society, and has published a few adult fiction novels as well.  Carter’s books have sold over two million copies and have appeared on many best-seller lists (Carter, n.d.). 

Genre: Fiction; Romance

Curriculum Ties: English (literature)

Booktalking ideas (one or two):

1.    Spy school class schedule

2.    Description of covert operation

Reading level/Interest age: 14-16

Challenge Issues: N/A

Why I chose this audiobook:  I included this audiobook because of it's light-hearted tone.  Many of the books in my collection deal with heavy issues, so this one is a breath of freash air.  School Library Journal labeled this book as one young adults read for fun (2011).

References:

Carter, A. (n.d.). Detailed Bio - Ally Carter. Home - Ally Carter. Retrieved April 29, 2013, from http://allycarter.com/ally/detailed-bio/

Charnizon, M. (2011, April 5). What are they reading for fun? School Library Journal. Retrieved from http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/slj/newslettersnewsletterbucketextrahelping2/890042-477/what_are_they_reading_for.html.csp