Here are 89 books that Greetings from Witness Protection! fans have personally recommended if you like
Greetings from Witness Protection!.
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All my books, for adults and kids, include the theme that things are seldom what they seem. I link this to the slow realization when I was young that my family had an uncommon history. Novels featuring spies go deep into this theme, as a good spy is always manipulating their environment and presenting versions of themselves that may or may not be true. When my own children were little, we read so many of these novels. That reading is what inspired the Mrs. Smith’s Spy School for Girls series.
This novel ticks all the boxes! A diverse cast of characters from different backgrounds and different parts of the world are brought together in a secret spy society and embark on an engaging international adventure to save the world.
I’m an avid traveler so the global setting of this fast-paced series appeals to me as does Ponti’s deft hand at weaving a mystery. We get clues enough to stay glued to the page but not so many we figure out the ending too soon. The ‘family’ dynamics of the spy kids grounds the story. Readers might recognize their own sibling interactions in the pages.
A New York Times bestseller! A GMA3 Summer Reading Squad Selection! “Ingeniously plotted, and a grin-inducing delight.” —People “Will keep young readers glued to the page…So when do I get the sequel?” —Beth McMullen, author of Mrs. Smith’s Spy School for Girls
In this thrilling new series that Stuart Gibbs called “a must-read,” Edgar Award winner James Ponti brings together five kids from all over the world and transforms them into real-life spies—perfect for fans of Spy School and Mrs. Smith’s Spy School for Girls.
Sara Martinez is a hacker. She recently broke into the New York City foster care…
Twelve-year-old identical twins Ellie and Kat accidentally trigger their physicist mom’s unfinished time machine, launching themselves into a high-stakes adventure in 1970 Chicago. If they learn how to join forces and keep time travel out of the wrong hands, they might be able find a way home. Ellie’s gymnastics and…
All my books, for adults and kids, include the theme that things are seldom what they seem. I link this to the slow realization when I was young that my family had an uncommon history. Novels featuring spies go deep into this theme, as a good spy is always manipulating their environment and presenting versions of themselves that may or may not be true. When my own children were little, we read so many of these novels. That reading is what inspired the Mrs. Smith’s Spy School for Girls series.
I love how Georges and Safer are relatable. Their friendship has ups and downs and tensions that resonate for young readers.
Middle school is challenging! The realism extends to Georges’s family and the challenges he faces at home. But this story is driven by the mystery of Spy Club and Mr. X. Important themes of friendship, empathy, and self discovery are flawlessly woven into the expert storytelling. I read this in one sitting!
When Georges moves into a new apartment block he meets Safer, a twelve-year-old self-appointed spy. Soon Georges has become his spy recruit. His first assignment? To track the mysterious Mr X, who lives in the flat upstairs. But as Safer becomes more demanding, Georges starts to wonder: what is a game and what is a lie? How far is too far to go for your only friend?
Winner of the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize and shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal.
'A joy to read' Independent
'Rebecca Stead makes writing this well look easy' Philip Ardagh, Guardian
All my books, for adults and kids, include the theme that things are seldom what they seem. I link this to the slow realization when I was young that my family had an uncommon history. Novels featuring spies go deep into this theme, as a good spy is always manipulating their environment and presenting versions of themselves that may or may not be true. When my own children were little, we read so many of these novels. That reading is what inspired the Mrs. Smith’s Spy School for Girls series.
This is a work of historical fiction about World War II and I felt totally immersed in the moment.
13-year-old Bertie, his friends, and his rescue pup get busy learning ciphers and solving puzzles amid the falling bombs in order to find a missing woman. The author weaves in historical figures and events that add to the authentic feeling of this action-packed read. This is one of my favorites!
From the award-winning author of The Great Trouble comes a story of espionage, survival, and friendship during World War II
Bertie Bradshaw never set out to become a spy. He never imagined traipsing around war-torn London, solving ciphers, practicing surveillance, and searching for a traitor to the Allied forces. He certainly never expected that a strong-willed American girl named Eleanor would play Watson to his Holmes (or Holmes to his Watson, depending on who you ask).
But when a young woman goes missing, leaving behind a coded notebook, Bertie is determined to solve the mystery. With the help of Eleanor…
Twelve-year-old identical twins Ellie and Kat accidentally trigger their physicist mom’s unfinished time machine, launching themselves into a high-stakes adventure in 1970 Chicago. If they learn how to join forces and keep time travel out of the wrong hands, they might be able find a way home. Ellie’s gymnastics and…
All my books, for adults and kids, include the theme that things are seldom what they seem. I link this to the slow realization when I was young that my family had an uncommon history. Novels featuring spies go deep into this theme, as a good spy is always manipulating their environment and presenting versions of themselves that may or may not be true. When my own children were little, we read so many of these novels. That reading is what inspired the Mrs. Smith’s Spy School for Girls series.
I am so in for this combination of mystery, history and intrigue set during the Cold War. I feel like this pivotal period is untapped as a setting pulsing with paranoia, propaganda, high-stakes politics, and general unease.
Young Jake stumbles into a world of espionage and must rely on his bravery and resourcefulness to navigate his newfound circumstances. I’m a sucker for a ‘things are not as they seem’ novel and this one delivers. Yelchin is a beautiful writer and the art adds to the dark, moody vibe of this book.
It's 1953 and the Cold War is on. Communism threatens all that the United States stands for, and America needs every patriot to do their part. So when a Russian boarder moves into the home of twelve-year-old Jake McCauley, he's on high alert. What does the mysterious Mr. Shubin do with all that photography equipment? And why did he choose to live so close to the Air Force base? Jake's mother says that Mr. Shubin knew Jake's dad, who went missing in action during World War II. But Jake is skeptical; the facts just don't add up. And he's determined…
I have been an ardent fantasy reader since I was very young, and have been a writer for nearly as long. The idea of being able to weave together an original narrative that can be entertaining, educational, and instructive at the same time is a concept that has fascinated me well into adulthood, and one that I continue to explore in my reading and writing to this day, whether short form or long; fiction or non.
I first discovered The Mistmantle Chronicles completely by accident, and a happy accident it was, as this 5-book series turned out to be my absolute favorite of all time!
As I said in a blog post a couple of years ago, this series has it all—heroic deeds, clever villains, and enough action and intrigue to satisfy readers of every stripe. And this very first book is an excellent starting point.
However many times I read it, it never ceases to thrill and immerse me in that beautifully crafted world populated by some amazingly 3-dimensional characters. And with its underlying Christian themes and symbolism, I would especially recommend the Mistmantle series for any Narnia lovers out there.
On a night of riding stars, a tiny squirrel is found abandoned and close to death on a distant beach. Adopted and raised by a welcoming colony of animals, Urchin has no idea of his powerful destiny or of his mysterious origins.
The rule of the good King Brushen and Queen Spindle is threatened by an evil plot from within the court. When a murder is committed, the isle is thrown into turmoil. Behind the scenes, ruthless animals are determined to seize the throne. But to underestimate the power of the islanders and the ancient prophecies is a big mistake...…
I’m a lover of all things Victorian and an obsessive researcher. Academic libraries are my favourite places in the world and I like nothing more than uncovering some weird nugget of information that forces me to reappraise what I thought I knew. With a PhD in Victorian domestic murder and a fascination with the weirder elements of Victorian life, it was almost inevitable I’d turn my hand to writing crime fiction set in that era. The five books I’ve recommended are some of the best crime novels set in the nineteenth century, but written more recently.
Do not be put off by the fact this book, and the others in the Sally Lockhart quartet, are often marketed as children’s/YA literature. Like the best of fiction, they transcend categorisation.
The Ruby in the Smoke introduces us to the indomitable Sally Lockhart, orphaned and forced to uncover the secret behind her father’s death. She’s feisty and fiercely independent, navigating her way in a world where the chips are stacked against her. Pullman provides us with an impeccably researched foray into the 1870s, all wrapped up in a hugely entertaining read.
The first book in Philip Pullman's classic SALLY LOCKHART quartet in a beautiful new edition to celebrate the 30 year anniversary.
Soon after Sally Lockhart's father drowns at sea, she receives an anonymous letter. The dire warning it contains makes a man die of fear at her feet. Determined to discover the truth about her father's death, Sally is plunged into a terrifying mystery in the dark heart of Victorian London, at the centre of which lies a deadly blood-soaked jewel. Philip Pullman's ever-popular, action-packed Victorian melodramas are rejacketed for the bicentenary of Charles Dickens in 2012.
I’m a retired teacher. I’m fascinated with stories of scary creatures, especially vampires. As a child, I stayed up late watching Draculamovies. As I got older, my love for vampire movies continued. Some were scary. Some were comical. I enjoyed them all, well, at least most of them. I love stories about traditional vampires as well as those about vampires who are different from the typical stereotype. Vampire hunter stories also intrigue me. When I wrote The Voinico’s Daughter, I wanted to put my own unique twist on the vampire legends as it had been a dream of mine for a long time to write my own vampire story!
I have always been more interested in vampires than werewolves. But when I saw this book, I knew I had to give it a chance. Once I started reading it, I couldn’t put it down. The story follows Kayla, a young girl who takes a summer job as a wilderness guide. Kayla has no way of knowing how this job will change her life forever. She meets Lucas, a young man who she is drawn to. Little does she know that Lucas is indeed a werewolf or that her destiny is linked to his.
As I read this book, I was anxious to see what would happen next. It was definitely a page-turner! While it’s a young adult novel, I highly recommend it to anyone who likes stories about werewolves.
I see him and know what this turmoil inside of me means: He's the one. My forever. kayla is the nature lover, the all-American beauty who can't understand why she's so drawn to distant, brooding Lucas. Adopted as a young child, she has no way of knowing that she's inherited a terrifying-and thrilling-gene that will change her life forever. lucas is dangerous, gorgeous ...and a werewolf. As leader of the Dark Guardians, shape-shifters who gather deep within the state park, he has sworn to protect his pack. But when Lucas finds his true soul mate, his love could put them…
I am a French novelist, the author of fifteen novels, many of which are memoirs, so I am considered a specialist of "autofiction" in France, of fiction written about oneself. But I also love writing about others, as you can see in my novel on David Hockney. Beauvoir, Sarraute and Ernaux were my models, Laurens and Appanah are my colleagues. Three of the books I picked would be called memoirs in the States, and the other two novels. In France, they are in the same category. All these women write beautifully about childhood and womanhood. I love their writing because it is both intimate and universal, full of emotion, but in a very sober and precise style.
I was immediately engaged in the story of a nurse who follows a man to Mayotte and, unable to conceive, adopts a child whom she brings up by herself after the man abandons her. She dies abruptly, however, and the story changes completely, turning into an intense, violent novel about children in the slums. The orphan who fled after his mother's death is horribly abused by another young teenager who is a gang leader, and can free himself only by killing him in the end. I am in awe of Nathacha Appanah for her ability to capture the voice of street children. This is a poignant, powerful, and beautifully written novel about harassment, cruelty, and possession.
Marie, a nurse on the island of Mayotte, adopts an abandoned baby and names him Moise, raising him as a French boy. As he grows up, Moise struggles with his status as an "outsider" and to understand why he was abandoned as a baby. When Marie dies, he is left alone, plunged into uncertainty and turmoil, ending up in the largest and most infamous slum on Mayotte, nicknamed "Gaza".
Narrated by five different characters, Tropic of Violence is an exploration of lost youth on the French island of Mayotte in the Indian Ocean. Shining a powerful light on problems of…
There's a song lyric I've fallen in love with that sums up my feelings on found families perfectly: “Soulmates aren't found, they're made.” To me, it means that no one is tailor-made to fit any one person's every whim and need. Instead, relationships are about compromise, communication, and standing shoulder-to-shoulder when it's time to circle the wagons. Relationships are about facing the fire together and coming out stronger—and in a genre like fantasy, that fire isn’t just metaphorical! The best found family stories are about individuals finding something that unites them, bringing them closer together than any one of them thought possible, and becoming stronger because of that bond. Because families aren't found, they're made.
Most found family stories involve individuals coming together, seeing them forged in fire to become something new, something whole, and unbreakable. The Gray House is a twist on found family in that it begins with strong family bonds already in place, so the true story becomes: What happens when a found family breaks apart? The Gray House is a home and school for disabled children and teenagers, where they need to rely on each other for everything—even things as basic as getting dressed in the morning. And while the shifting perspectives and timelines do tell the story of family bonds forged among individuals, the threat of Graduation Day looms over the house’s seniors, heralding an ending, rather than a beginning. With a low fantasy setting that I can’t describe without spoiling the story, I can only assure you that this book will take you on a completely unexpected journey.
"The Gray House is enigmatic and fantastical, comic and postmodern...Rowling meets Rushdie via Tartt...Nothing short of life-changing." -The Guardian
The Gray House is an astounding tale of how what others understand as liabilities can be leveraged into strengths.
Bound to wheelchairs and dependent on prosthetic limbs, the physically disabled students living in the House are overlooked by the Outsides. Not that it matters to anyone living in the House, a hulking old structure that its residents know is alive. From the corridors and crawl spaces to the classrooms and dorms, the House is full of tribes, tinctures, scared teachers, and…
I have loved reading since I was very young, and would bring home an armful of books from the library. I first discovered the dystopian genre while in junior high, and it quickly became my favorite genre. My favorite aspect of dystopias is the new world created within each book. When I began writing my own stories, I spent several hours building the world within my book. Even today, nearly 20 years after I first began writing, I spend hours drawing and designing everything within each book, whether or not it’s dystopian. My hope is that my readers find my worlds as fascinating as I found the worlds of the stories on my list!
In a world where love is forbidden, witness the blossoming of an epic love story. As someone who rarely enjoys romance novels, Lauren Oliver’s Delirium hooked me in and had me finish in less than two days. Oliver has a way with words that left me feeling every emotion the main character felt, and had me diving into the second book the moment I finished the first. It’s a beautiful dystopian, and was the first book I read that got me hooked on the genre. If you are a fan of The Hunger Games, then you’ll love Delirium!
'A dystopian Romeo and Juliet story that deserves to be as massive as Twilight' Stylist
They say that the cure for love will make me happy and safe forever. And I've always believed them. Until now.
There was a time when love was the most important thing in the world. People would go to the end of the earth to find it. They would tell lies for it. Even kill for it.
But now love has been declared a dangerous disease.
Everyone who turns eighteen must be immunised with a procedure called the Cure. Lena Haloway is looking forward to…
