Silverfin by Charlie Higson

                                                                           Silverfin

Charlie Higson

Meira.Elena

Age: High School+

Lexile: 900L

        Don’t you just love spy novels? That thrilling, mysterious feeling creeping up your spine as you turn page after page. The shock and the fear as the heroes become even more daring and reckless? Mostly, when we think of spies, we think of “Bond. James Bond”. Well, he started off as a child too, didn’t he? A thrilling start to a prequal series to Ian Fleming’s world-famous spy series, you’ll love this new insight into young Bond’s life. Where did he get these spy skills, and what happened to his parents? How did he become the suave 007 we all know and love?

 

             In Silverfin, James Bond has just started his first year at Eton, the famous boarding school for the rich and noble in England. With strict teachers, old-fashioned rules, cold dorms, and weird clothes, Bond has got to get into some sort of trouble! When the people snooping around a new, secluded American household start to disappear, you can bet curious Bond will be in the thick of it.

              The setting and descriptions are very well-done—the language proving a challenge but not a deterrence to the enjoyment of the book for younger readers. It fits right in with the time—remember, in the original novels, Bond was born in the 1920s, meaning the prequel series must take place in the mid-1930s, just before the outbreak of WWII. The setting in post-WWI London is beautifully described, while the deeper economic and regional aspects are well-developed and explained for an unaware audience.

               Bond's young character is strong, brave, and he might have a "saving people thing" like other well-loved characters such as J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson. Bond, however, is more than just brawn and luck- he's intelligent, quick-thinking, and daring. Clearly his skills as a spy were already inherent in his character and were later developed with training as an adult.

               This series is thrilling, captivating, daring, and even a little humorous- you won't want to put it down! I recommend it for readers high school and up!