I had a good time with this book. it was a fun, fast paced spy adventure in which Beatrice tries to balance the life that her parents want for her and the dream she has always had. Great narration.

Thank you @NetGalley and @MacmillanAudio for the ALC. This is a great start to a new middle grade series dul of action and suspense. Bea has grown up in a hotel full of secret agents and her goal is to be one. Her mom wants something different for her and wants to send her to boarding school to have a more normal life. Bea does not want to go and is so excited to meet a new friend but this new friend is in hiding from a killer. Bea is on the case.

My son enjoyed this audio. He says the story was fun and he liked the main character. This has all the makings of a great children's book. I'd have to say it leans a little YA.

Bea, the main character, is no stranger to being a spy. Her mother hood and has been one for quite some time. Bea yearns to follow in her mother's footsteps but her mother wants Bea to be educated and live amongst the normal people. Of course Bea does not agree.

Super fun! Great characters, fast paced and makes a fun start to a series. Jesse Vilinsky did an excellent job with this audio! My son wants to read book 2! Thank you @neggalleh and @macmillianaudio for a copy of this titles. All Mr reviews are unbiased.

This book is obviously for kids, but is sprinkled with morbid content that threw me off. It didn’t fit the rest of the writing to me. It reminded me a bit of the Addam’s Family…. If Morticia wanted Wednesday to “leave the life.” I couldn’t get comfortable with the parents being so ridiculously irresponsible and the kid packing weapons / “sweeties.”
It was just kind of weird. The narrator was good and I enjoyed the book despite the oddness.

This was a fun audiobook to listen to with my 7 1/2 year old son, as he loves mysteries and a narrative with a bit of complexity. We had a few opportunities to discuss vocabulary, and the way they were using the word "knack" in the book, so it was a good opportunity to work on comprehension skills. If he was older I think he would enjoy it even more. I reviewed it for the juvenile patrons at my library and think it will appeal to their interest in espionage, technology, mystery, and allusions to violence (though it isn't gory or overly violent).

Rosaria Munda’s Confession of a Junior Spy is a smart, fast-paced adventure full of espionage flair, heartfelt friendships, and a charmingly rebellious heroine who’s anything but ordinary. Bea has grown up surrounded by danger, secrets, and spycraft in the Pangean Hotel, a covert hub for undercover agents. So when her legendary spy mother tells her it’s time to trade missions for math class and enroll in a normal boarding school, Bea is devastated—and determined to find another way.

Munda balances humor and heart with ease, giving readers a delightful middle-grade espionage tale that feels both fresh and familiar. Bea’s voice is clever and full of spunk, and her fierce loyalty to her friends—especially her ride-or-die partner Tommy—gives the story its emotional grounding. The arrival of mysterious new girl Chantal adds intrigue and urgency, turning Bea’s world into a puzzle she’s desperate to solve before her time at the hotel runs out.

Jesse Vilinsky’s narration brings Bea to life with energy and warmth. She captures Bea’s sass, vulnerability, and determination perfectly, and her vocal range makes every character distinct. Whether it’s a stealthy mission or an emotional moment, Vilinsky keeps listeners fully engaged.

While the pacing sometimes rushes past deeper emotional beats, and the plot leans on some classic spy tropes, the story’s heart and humor more than make up for it. With its unique setting, high-stakes fun, and lovable cast, Confession of a Junior Spy is a great pick for fans of Spy School and City Spies—especially in audiobook form.

As an adult, I believe the best compliment I can give a book like this is what I have done, and that is to order this for my daughter. This book is one that I will look forward to giving to her and reading with her.

Confessions of a Junior Spy is basically just a kids’ version of John Wick. Bea is the daughter of a spy and lives in a hotel that is a safety zone for spies, much like the Continental in John Wick.

In the world, people have knacks that help them do what they are meant to do. Bea is nervous that she doesn’t have a knack and wants to figure out what her knack is and become a spy like her mom.

A new family arrives at the hotel, and their daughter, Chantel, becomes friends with Bea. Bea, along with her best friend Tommy, uses their available resources and knowledge to help.

For a kids’ book, there was a lot of action in this fast-paced book. I can’t wait for my daughter to enjoy this, but even as an adult, I really loved this one.

I listened to this with my ten year old niece and we both really liked it. As soon as it ended, my niece asked if I had the next book available. There's a lot here for both kids and adults to enjoy. I kept on cracking up at all of the asides about ridiculous situations taking place that the narrator was completely casual about. Like when she said something along the lines of "I was helping burn evidence on the roof when....". Absolutely delightful. Also, all of her shenanigans with her knack were fun, although I'll leave that unsaid to avoid spoilers. And while the humor was topnotch, it also did a nice job with some coming-of-age elements and the relationship between the girl and her mom.

My niece wants to say that she "liked the cliffhangers, the detail, the personalities of all the characters, and the storyline."

I requested this because Jesse Vilinksy narrated it. I've now listened to her YA, adult and middle-grade narrations, so there's nothing she can't do.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ALC!

I enjoyed this middle grade spy mystery, which is the first installment in a new series. The mission of the international spy organization is world peace, and agents are prohibited from using violence except in self-defense. This makes the book especially well-suited not only for the target audience, but also older readers who like mystery thrillers, but are looking for less-graphic content.

The young main character, Bea, has one spy parent (her mom) and one staff parent (her dad, the chef) in the part spy family sanctuary/part hotel for normal folk in which Bea's family lives. The spy kids have knacks (special skills), that tend to reveal themselves for the first time precisely when they are needed. Old (including Bea's best friend, Tommy) and new (including Chantal, who is from a normal family) friends, other sanctuary staff and spies (adults), and families learn, grow, and work together in various ways throughout the book. There is mild-to-moderate peril to people and animals in the story, but there are no fatalities.

Narrator Jesse Vilinsky's voice is occasionally frantic in this book. I wasn't quite sure if that portrayal felt just right for the few scenes or was a bit too much. Overall, however, her narration was good, covering a broad range of ages, accents, and pitches. Vilinsky is a welcome repeat narrator for me.

3.66⭐

Excited for this one to hit the shelves, engaging story and hard to put down!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Has anyone ever told you that you have a knack for something? Well to Bea, Tommy and their new friend Chantal- a "KNACK" is everything. When you realize your knack, it sings to you. You instantly know you were meant for that special skill. For Tommy it is a cleaning knack, which is great considering he and Bea live in a hotel called the Pangea. It is a sanctuary for spies. There are normies there too, which is what they thought Chantal was until they realize her knack for connecting with animals. Bea is still waiting for hers, especially since her mom is the best spy ever and her Dad is a fantastic chef for the hotel. However, when the knife knack sings to her she gets all kinds of attention. Some is flattering while others are dangers.
This middle school aged mystery has just enough edge to keep readers interested but nothing inappropriate (one inference of vodka sauce turning into underage drinking- but you need a close reader to pick up on that) The characters are very well developed and seem to have plenty of room to grow for the sequels. The villains are just dangerous enough, but the violence isn't graphic.
Recommended: grade 6+
Topics: spies, family, special traits, boarding school, friendshp
#netgallery

Beatrice lives in a secure hotel for spies and people needing protection. Her mom is one of those spies and her dad is the chef, and Beatrice wants most of anything to train as a spy herself. Their organization is dedicated to world peace, although who is paying and what that means is never explained: they’re the Good Guys. The only element of magical realism is that everyone has a knack, discovered in adolescence, making them extra talented at one skill. It could be cleaning, pyrotechnics, reading, math, etc. Her mother, a woman Beatrice rarely sees, was abducted as a child by the Russian government and forced to become an assassin when she demonstrated a gun knack and had to escape to become a Good Guy.

I was surprised at how violent and somber this book was, as I expected something more light-hearted from middle grade. It’s about on par with an Avengers movie. Not for easily frightened kids, for sure, and my 13 year old and I found parts hilarious that younger kids didn’t get. We listened to the audio, which is excellent, and my kids 7-13 were all very excited to find out what happens next. Beatrice is brave, foolish, determined, afraid, confused, loyal - in many ways very relatable, although her absolute commitment to a career that means throwing herself headfirst into danger is both intense and played for laughs.

We really enjoyed this, will look for the second one, and didn’t feel overwhelmed by the content. I hope more world building and explanation will happen in subsequent novels, too.

Thanks to the publisher for the arc!

How cool would it be to grow up in a hotel full of super spies? Bea is here to tell you that it is SO COOL. Like the coolest. Except sometimes it's also pretty scary like when [redacted] tries to [redacted] and then you have to [redacted]. Sorry, Bea wants to be a spy when she grows up and she insists that a lot of things have to be kept confidential.

What I can say is that this book was a lot of fun. It's about friendship, growing up, and some cool knacks (special powers) that come in handing. Bea thinks getting saddled with a reading knack would be the worst, but as an avid reader I can't agree.

Thank you to Macmillan Young Listeners for the review copy of the audiobook. Jesse Vilinsky's narration did a great job of bringing Bea's story to life!

We need more shorter middle grade books and Rosaria Munda has stepped up with a shorter middle grade packed full of adventure, friendship, and fun! I love the unique setting, a hotel for spies that is also frequented by some normal folk as well. New friends grow together as their lives overlap in unexpected ways. And the main character discovers things about herself that she never thought she would want.

I enjoyed the pace of this book. The characters were fun and inviting for middle aged readers. Some parts I found unnecessary, like the vodka scene. We already knew some of the characters were trouble makers without the influence of alcohol. However, I can see how this would be an interesting series to follow!

Adventure. Excitement. Mysterious. Suspenseful. CONFESSIONS OF A JUNIOR SPY is a good first installment of what is certain to be a series. The author tells a compelling story while managing to introduce the occasional young adult theme that readers will identify with. I like how the author draws inspiration from a variety of sources — John Wick, Harry Potter, City Spies, and Judy Blume — in their writing. It is apparent that they are still finding their voice. I have no doubt that they will figure things out by the next installment. My only quibble is with the three primary pre-teen heroes — their characterization needs work. Sometimes I loved them and laughed along with them, easily able to identify with what they were experiencing. Other times, they were a trifle irksome, and I did not believe the decisions they were making. Still, I had fun reading and am eager for book 2.

Thank you Macmillan Audio, Macmillan Young Listeners and NetGalley for the advanced electronic audio review copy of this fun book. This is a beginning of the new promising series full of action, adventure, a cool, relatable main character, and an interesting setting. Looking forward to the next volume.

This was a wicked cute lower middle grade read that I think young readers will eat up. It is very fast paced taking the reader through the eyes of the young FMC who is the daughter of a spy and a chef. It is reminiscent of John Wick where there is a hotel that is a sanctuary for the spy and general protection needing community combined with Eloise at the Plaza as our FMC and others live at the hotel.

I will say that this book can be a bit chaotic with many, probably too many, sub plots going on. It is definitely a read suited for enjoyment rather than a book used in a classroom for enjoyable learning as it can be hard to figure main ideas and other ELA elements that a teacher would be searching for the student to come up with. This coupled with several plot points that were introduced but never resolved and not in a “waiting for a sequel” type of way.

However, this is a start of a series so those plot points may absolutely be addressed on further books, it’s just that it leaves a bit to be desired in how things were left.

I consumed the Audio Advanced Listening Copy and the narrator Jesse Vilinsky did a fine job with the main character. She was engaging and sounding age appropriate. However, as an adult it was hard to listen to her other voices, particularly male voices. I played sections to readers in the targeted audience and they agreed that it wasn’t something they enjoyed using words like “weird and babyish” and felt like they were being spoken down to.

The good thing? Speeding it up to 1.5x speed and beyond changed the intonation enough to make it listenable. It is recorded on the slower side of average speed so it was very easy to understand whilst being sped up.

This book comes out June 10, 2025

I am thankful to have gotten a complimentary audio ALC from Macmillan Audio through NetGalley to read which gave me the opportunity to voluntarily leave a review.


My rating system for Middle Grade and children’s books

⭐️ Significant problems and would never recommend to the audience.
⭐️⭐️ Had a lot of trouble, prose issues, really not my cup of tea but may have some appeal.
⭐️⭐️⭐️ an ok book which I wouldn’t go out of my way to recommend but it has some value for young readers
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Really enjoyed it! I would recommend for the age or reading level appropriate for the book
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Outstanding! Would recommend highly, especially to school programs as a wide spread reading opportunity.