The Academy (Steel Trapp Series #2) » (Unabridged, 7 CDs, 8 hrs. 24 min.)

Whether it's crime thrillers for adults or adventure stories for young readers, bestselling author Ridley Pearson brings imagination, suspense, and an impeccable eye for detail to all his award-winning fiction.

Steven “Steel” Trapp has been placed in an East Coast boarding school for gifted kids by his FBI agent father. He soon discovers that there’s a clubby element of faculty and upperclassmen that is very secretive and protective. To his surprise, his friend Kaileigh arrives at the school, and it isn’t long before the two realize that this is not your normal prep school.

There are dark forces at play. Foreign agents may have penetrated the school’s secrecy and have sleepers in place: kids spying on future kid spies. Competition and intrigue among the elite faculty threaten security. As Steel and Kaileigh are recruited for their first run — trying to break a ring of pickpockets in a Boston hotel — things go impossibly wrong. Betrayal and conspiracy cloud what should have been a straightforward assignment. And all too soon, the two find that their very lives are in danger.

Children's Literature

Steven "Steel" Trapp understands why his father, who has recently told Steel about his undercover work with the FBI, wants him to go to Wynncliff Academy. Wynncliff is a competitive private school with high standards for its students, and here Steel's detailed photographic memory will be an asset, not a freakish curse. But Steel does not understand why his father pulled strings to get his best friend Kaileigh accepted without telling him. And the group of upperclassmen being secretly trained to use blow darts in the gym does not make sense either. Things at Wynncliff are not all as they appear. With Steel's memory, Kaileigh's street smarts and keen sensibilities, and the help of a few new friends, the two find themselves thrown further into the secrets of the Academy than they ever imagined. Meanwhile, Brian Taddler and a group of homeless boys under the care of Mrs. D are working on the most important heist of their lives. The stories combine with twists and turns that keep the plot moving and the pages flipping. Aside from a few discrepancies, the characters are developed believably and endearingly. Steel and Brian's stories alternate, keeping the action fast-paced while peeling away the layers of intrigue. While there is a predecessor in the "Steel Trapp" series, this stands on its own quite well. Hints of Ender's Game, Oliver Twist, and a juvenile James Bond will attract a variety of readers and draw them to the rest of the series. Reviewer: Jennifer Lehmann