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When Cammie "The Chameleon" Morgan visits her roommate Macey in Boston, she thinks she's in for an exciting end to her summer break. After all, she's there to watch Macey's father accept the nomination for vice president of the United States. But when you go to the world's best school (for... read more

Summary edit see section history

The story starts with Cammie in Boston to visit Macey who is on the campaign trail to get votes for her father's vice-presidential campaign. During Cammie's stay, she, Macey and Preston (the son of the presidential candidate) are attacked on a rooftop, after the itinerary is changed. The girls... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)

The story starts with Cammie in Boston to visit Macey who is on the campaign trail to get votes for her father's vice-presidential campaign. During Cammie's stay, she, Macey and Preston (the son of the presidential candidate) are attacked on a rooftop, after the itinerary is changed. The girls barely make it out and are badly injured, after diving into a laundry chute. After the attack, Cammie remembers that one of their attackers was wearing a ring that she recognized but couldn't place.

When Macey returns to Gallagher Academy, she is injured badly with a big yellow bruise and a broken arm. The Secret Service agent placed with Macey for her protection is Cammie’s aunt Abby (Abigail), who Cammie had not seen since before her mom quit the CIA, and before her dad died.

Macey has to leave the school to help her father get votes in Cleveland, Cammie, Bex and Liz are reluctant to let her go, but they have too. Mr Solomon takes the junior CoveOps class on a trip to Cleveland during the event. During the trip, Cammie runs into Zach while at an event. Cammie is confused about what he wants but decides not to press the issue, especially since he disappears when a secret service agent finds them.

In order to protect Macey, Cammie, Bex and Liz go undercover at a political function. They use invites and ID that Liz procures for them, in a way that Cammie decides she doesn’t want to know, to get in. Cammie sees Zach and realizes that he was also in Boston in disguise. She tries to get him to tell her the truth but he won't.

While talking with Bex and Liz later, Cammie and Macey realize that their attackers were not surprised that the girls could perform impressive defense techniques. Cammie recalls one of the attackers saying "Get her." and they realise Preston was not the target, as he was not even supposed to be on the rooftop- Macey was. Liz points out that no one knows the truth about the Gallagher Academy, that the attackers shouldn’t have known, but thinking about Zach’s words about her father’s death, Cammie replies, "Someone knows."

The girls keep thinking about the strange but familiar ring that one of the attackers wore until Cammie remembers during a Covert Ops class with Mr Solomon where she saw the mysterious symbol. She drags both of her friends to Gillian Gallagher‘s (the school’s founder) sword and shows them the symbol. Liz says this explains why she couldn't find the symbol for any modern group: "They're old," she says.

Reading the history, the girls discover that the man who first attempted to kill Lincoln (Iosef Cavan) was part of a group called The Circle of Cavan, and that the sword Gilly used to kill him was his own. The girls realize that the Circle of Cavan must want to kill Macey, because she is Gilly's descendant.

Later, Macey disappears when she and Cammie sneak out. Cammie then makes the connection that Macey went to Mr Solomon's cabin, where the two were sent when they were injured in Boston. The girls head back to school where Macey heads off to another rally. Cammie and her friends follow where the Circle of Cavan strikes again. During the fight, Cammie realizes that they were never after Macey; they were after her. Abby, Cammie's aunt, a Gallagher Girl, and Macey's Secret Service protector, is shot and seriously wounded, while the Circle escapes.

Cammie awakens days later and learns that Abby is out of surgery. She demands answers from her mother and Mr Solomon who tell her that they only knew that Macey wasn't the target and that Zach told them. They don't know anymore. Cammie suspects that they are lying to her because as she has said before: "Spies are the best liars."

Cammie is upset but relieved that Abby is okay. As she leaves, Abby turns and kisses Mr Solomon, telling her sister," Well, someone had to do it." Cammie is seen going to her history teacher and asking if she can tell her about the Circle of Cavan. After some doubt her history teacher agrees to do it in the spring.

At the end of the book, Cammie is seen feeling hopeful after she receives a note from Zach: "Have fun in London -Z", and wondering what her life will be like after winter.
(Wikipedia)

Characters edit see section history

  • Cameron Ann Morgan: Daughter of the head mistress of the Gallagher Academy For Exceptional Young Women. Sixteen Years old. Best friends are: Bex, Liz. Her Real name is Cameron.She is with Mayce when something bad happens at a Boston Convention.
  • Macey McHenry: The rich daughter of Senator McHenry, a man running to be the vice president of the United States in the book. She is described to have glossy black hair and a nose ring. Learns to become a really great spy.
  • Rebecca "Bex" Baxter: A British girl who is the first non-American to attend the Gallagher Academy. She is described as being fit with dark skin and hair. She is very dramatic and is a good fighter. She helps Cammie gatecrash political events and convinced her to sneak into Abby's office. She also had the idea of hog-tying Macey to her chair to keep her safe. It was said that the only way she would ever not attend a mission is if she was unconscious, tied up and locked in a concrete bunker in Siberia. She is really funny and likes to be dangerous.
  • Elizabeth "Liz" Sutton: An extremely smart girl who has no interest in taking Covert Ops and prefers to do research instead of field work. She has a Southern Accent. She often says "Oopsie daisy" after small accidents. She is a bit clumsy and has blond hair. In the book, she lent them a special car she'd created with Doctor Fibs-the school's inventor and attempted to find out where the symbol on the ring was from. A roomate of Bex, Mayce and Cammie
  • Zachary Goode: Good looking, smart and yet very suspicious. A student of Blackthorne Institute for Boys. Often conceals the truth from Cammie in order to protect her. He also kind of likes Cammie.
  • Mr. Joseph Solomon: A teacher at Gallagher Academy. He's one of the best looking teachers and everyone likes him. Very tough, but a great spy. Cammies aunt kisses him in the end to prove a point hat he is super cute.
  • Abby Cameron: Cammie's aunt. hired by secret service to protect Macey McHenry after the kid-napping attempt. She is admired by a lot of girls at galleger.
  • Preston Winters: The annoying son of Governor Winters(candidate for president w/ Senator McHenry as VP) that Macy starts to like. Some girls think that he is really cute.
  • Gillian Gallagher: The founder of the Academy and Macy's great-great-grandmother. Super freakin awesome!!!
  • Patricia Buckingham: A professor at Gallagher Academy. She is the oldest professor there and teaches History of Espionage. She slso helps Cammie try to not be super worried about Macey.
  • Mr. Smith: A professor at Gallagher Academy and always has a new face each year. He is a nice guy. After he got his NEW face the girls considered him hot and compare his looks to Mr. Solomon's. He teaches the younger students.
Show all 11 characters
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Quotes edit see section history

  • “Sometimes people run . . . to see if you’ll come after them.”
    Joe Solomon
  • “Motivation. It's why people do the things they do. What, ladies, is almost always tied to why. There are six reasons anyone does anything: Love. Faith. Greed. Boredom. Fear...Revenge.”
    Joe Solomon
  • “'I heard someone's playing hooky,'" Zach told me. He smiled. Standing there, it felt almost like nothing bad had ever happened - or would ever happen again."'There's a boy in my life,'" I told him. "'He's a very bad influence.'" Then Zach nodded. "'Bad boys have a way of doing that. But they're worth it.'”
    Zachary Goode and Cammie
  • “Somewhere in the crowd of bodies, I could have sworn i felt Joe Solomon smile.”
    Cameron Ann Morgan
  • “Have fun in London -Z”
    Zachary Goode in note form
  • “As I remembered nothing is ever as it seems.”
    Cameron Ann Morgan
  • ““Is khabar ko kisi kitab ke andar daal dein, ya aisa kuch?””
  • “Motivation. It's why people do the things they do. What, ladies, is almost always tied to why. There are six reasons anyone does anything: Love. Faith. Greed. Boredom. Fear . . .” he said, ticking them off on his fingers; but he lingered on the last, drawing a deep breath before he said, “Revenge.””
    Joe Solomon
  • “The only way Bex would miss this would be if she were unconscious. And tied up. And locked in a concrete bunker. In Siberia.”
    Narrator
  • “And I can honestly say that none of the spy training in the world prepared me for the sight of my aunt grabbing Joe Solomon by the shirt. And kissing him. On the mouth. For eighty-seven seconds.”
    Narrator
  • “I’m not sure how she did it, but Elizabeth Sutton, the smartest Gallagher Girl in perhaps the history of Gallagher Girls, had just managed to cut her chin with a paper clip.”
    Narrator
  • “All days have twenty-four hours. One thousand four hundred and forty minutes. Eighty-six thousand, four hundred seconds.”
    Narrator
  • “We were the only people in Macey’s life who knew not to judge a girl by her cover.”
    Narrator
  • “Can I just say that it’s really pretty hard to deal with boys who may want to . . . A. Date you, or B. Kill you, or C. Learn the origins of your freaklike self-defense capabilities!”
    Narrator
  • “Usse apne pariwar ke panch jani dushmano ke naam puchain aur phir ek naam aur jord dein.”
  • “'This feels like a safe house'" She finally turned to look at me. "'Doesn't it feel safe, Cam?'" "'Yeah, Macey,'" I said softly. "'It does.'”
    Macey and Cammie
  • “Her name was probably on every newscast in America. it wasn't hard to imagine that, back in Boston, a room full of interns was buzzing about speeches that had to be rewritten and commercials that had to be recut. the campaign had a new star- a new angle. but all of that felt like another world, so i just stood by my friend and thought for the first time ever that Joe Solomon was wrong about something. I hadn't come away in worse shape than Macey McHenry. Not by a long shot.”
    Narrator
  • “Get her.”
    Unknown
  • “'Not mad,'" I said, shaking my head. "'It was more like she was-'" '"Heartbroken.'”
    Cammie and Liz
  • “'Still think they only let you in because of who your family is?'"I asked. "'Yes.'" Macey's answer shocked me. I'd been in the process of getting up. The coarse wood of the deock was pinching mhy hands as they supported too much of my weight, and yet i couldn't move. Macey smiled. She cocked an eyebrow and said, "'But that's not why they kept me.'”
    Cammie and Macey
Show all 20 quotes from this book

Organizations edit see section history

  • Circle of Cavan: An ancient group hundreds of years old; they are the villains in this book.

First Sentence edit see section history

"We're moving."

Table of Contents edit see section history

Chapters 1 - 29

Series & Lists edit see section history

This is book 3 of 7 in Gallagher Girls. (standard series)

Preceded by Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy, and followed by Only the Good Spy Young.

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

  1. Ally Carter (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Original Language: English
Publisher: Disney Hyperion Books for Children, an imprint of Disney Book Group
Country: United States of America
Publication Date: June 9, 2009
ISBN: 978-1-4231-1638-7
Page Count: 272

Notes for Parents edit see section history

Reading Level: Young Adults

Recommended for age +12.

More Books Like This edit see section history

   
  • I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You
  • Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy
  • Don't Judge a Girl by Her Cover
  • Only the Good Spy Young

Books with Additional Background Information edit see section history

   
  • I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You
  • Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy

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