I loved this follow up to the first book! It’s always so fun seeing Bea’s adventures and getting to her her navigate “normal school” was fun! Tommy and Chantal are fabulous as well and they all work great as a team, mostly. It’s hilarious seeing these kids trained in spy stuff to navigate the normal world. Cute, funny, and fun books!

4.3 star review. Confessions of a Junior Spy: The Mean Girl Mission by Rosaria Munda (reviewed by my 11 year old). This book was very similar to the first Confessions of a Junior Spy book. Beatrice grew from the first book to this sequel by developing her knife knack to be able to advance to a wider variety of knives. This allowed her to listen to other songs and tune out people knacks. I can not wait to see what Beatrice will be able to do next.

Thank you to the publisher for this advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

As is often the case, this second in this middle grade series lacks of a bit of the spark from the first book, where we were learning about Bea, Tommy, and their unique lives in the Pangean Hotel. It's still a lot of fun, switching between James Bond level spy technology and normal middle school friendship drama, even if I did figure out who the undercover Arctic Assassin agent was well before Bea. A must read for those who enjoyed the first in the series.

Fun and cute fast-paced spy mystery for upper elementary kids. As a middle school librarian, I’ve purchased this series but recommend to my younger readers since it is short and doesn’t rely on much world-building or character development. It is very action driven with straightforward friend drama.

What a fun and wonderful book! I liked this even more than the first one.

Beatrice has answered Chantal's request for assistance and is going undercover at a Normal school... something she spent the whole first book trying to get out of! I liked seeing what motivates her, and especially how she is still fundamentally a middle school girl and not immune to the middle school currents, dramas, and peer pressures, even if she is not sure what it is she is experiencing. Sometimes middle school does feel like a hostile takeover situation where you are surrounded by enemy agents, and must change yourself to fit in.

This book was also hysterically funny. Beatrice is such a strange kid, and from our (Normal) POV as readers, we can absolutely see what every Normal person at this school is thinking, or what they mean by what they say, even when Beatrice misinterprets it. And misinterpret it she does... she thinks everyone ELSE is the weird one, and she is never shaken from this conviction once the entire book. It's delightful to read. I love Beatrice's confidence, but how she still has so much to learn, and learns it! And how determined she is to make up for what she's done wrong (in her own unique way, but also the way that her friends need her to). My favorite new character was the Concierge and her desperate efforts to cling onto plausible deniability.

What worked:
The most entertaining part of the book is Bea living among adult spies. Everyone in the world has a Knack, and Bea has a special talent with knives. Her father has the same Knack, and he uses it as the chef at the Pangean Hotel. Her mother’s Knack is with guns, and she’s frequently off somewhere in the world on a secret spy mission. Bea wants to become a spy too, but her parents don’t like the idea. Bea receives training to master her knives and learn other spy skills, but her parents would like her to attend a public, non-spy school. This gives Bea the perfect opportunity to infiltrate her friend’s school and catch an evil spy with a people Knack.
Much of the humor comes from Bea’s lack of knowledge about the world of Normals, non-spy people. While registering on her first day of school, she’s asked to place anything distracting, such as a cellphone, into a bag. Bea surprises the administrator by removing several knives that are hidden under her clothes. Answering questions in class is an adventure, since all of her knowledge revolves around spies and the history of spying. She must bite her tongue to reveal the truth about the history being taught in the school. You can imagine how Bea behaves during her first sleepover. The story is told from Bea’s first-person point of view, so readers will fully appreciate
The story shares a perspective on the issues of bullying and friendship. Bea suspects Mabel has a people Knack and is trying to control the minds of her classmates. She bullies and picks on Bea’s friend Chantal and another girl named Dodie. Bea decides she must get closer to Mabel, but doesn’t foresee the consequences. How will Chantal react to Bea hanging out with the girl bullying her? Tommy is Bea’s best friend, and he offers mission support from the Pangean. However, there are moments of embarrassment when the two friends struggle with their maturing emotions.
What didn’t work as well:
Bea tries to confirm the identity of the person with the people Knack, and all of her observations are tainted with a preconceived notion of guilt. Readers will realize Bea’s mistake and recognize the enemy agent well before she does.
The final verdict:
This fun, fast-moving mission will appeal to young readers. Bea’s character is the highlight, as her love for the Life (the spy world) and her lack of knowledge about the Normal world make for an entertaining story. This book can be read independently of the first book in the series, and I recommend giving both a try.

I am a 48 year old adult. And love this cute series! I enjoyed this second installment in the Junior Spy series where our FMC Beatrice is honing her skills and diving head first in to the spy life.

I love the spy details that are for middle grade readers as it’s a great introduction to the Spy sub genre. It also has the touch of a. fantasy element which I think young readers will eat this up.

The book is short at only just over 200 pages but it’s packed with action throughout and keeps the reader engaged. While this is a series and it’s certainly helpful to read book 1 to get all the background of the Pangea Hotel, it is not essential to read it first. This book could absolutely be treated as a standalone as it would be pretty easy for the reader to understand what is going on. The author Rosaria Munda does a great job of giving enough background without sounding repetitive.

Now the book is very far fetched but it’s what makes it so endearing! I can’t wait for the next adventure! This book comes out January 13, 2026 so teachers and parents get this on your wishlists or preorder it asap as it’s a great addition to your middle grade library collection.

I am thankful to have gotten a complimentary eARC from Macmillan Children's Publishing Group 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.