Mrs. Smith's Spy School For Girls: Double Cross is a Children's Spy novel by Beth McMullen, and the third entry into the Mrs. Smith's Spy School for Girls series after Mrs. Smith's Spy School For Girls: Power Play.
After spending the summer on gardening duty as punishment for all the rules they broke in their last mission, Abby, Izumi, and Charlotte are starting a new school year, on in which Abby hopes to FINALLY get into the spy program. Only, she also finds out that Mrs. Smith is considering a different student for the program: Poppy Parsons.
Abby knows Poppy, a perfectionist who is always trying her hardest to be best at everything she can, so of course she and Abby are friends. However, Abby finds an alternative way to get into Mrs. Smith's good graces so she can enter the spy program another way: The Invitational Interschool Global Problems and Solutions Challenge being held at Briar Academy in Hartford.
Figuring she can show Mrs. Smith her exceptionality by winning the challenge, Abby and her friends end up taking the bus all the way across the state to Briar Academy. The challenge revolves around using their wits and available resources to construct a device meant to solve a problem the world is facing. This year, it's getting drinkable water to people who don't have access to it. The team of Owen Elliot and Poppy Parsons (which Abby dubs Team OP) is the team to watch this year.
However, Abby soon stumbles on a conspiracy going on at Briar Academy. One involving robot butterflies, a Briar student name Jane Ann, and Abby's mom's old friend, The Ghost.
The book was published on August 6th, 2019.
Mrs. Smith's Spy School For Girls: Double Cross contains examples of:
- Alliterative Name: The girl Mrs. Smith is considering for the spy program is named Poppy Parsons.
- The Conspiracy: Abby finds one going on at Briar Academy. Jane Ann and the headmaster of Briar Academy are delivering info that the Smith Academy students have to The Ghost in exchange for having the Challenge rigged so Briar Academy wins for a decade.
- Creepy Long Fingers: Abby describes The Ghost's fingers as very long and thin.
- Elaborate Underground Base: The Ghost has one located under an old plantation house in Hawaii. It was built into old, empty lava tubes.
- Fear of Thunder: Poppy Parsons, as Abby finds out while trekking through dense shrubbery in Hawaii, tracking the smart fabric Owen Elliot's wore. One boom of thunder happens, and Poppy shrieks and jumps into Abby's arms.
- Literal Surveillance Bug: Abby starts encountering swarms of robotic butterflies on the Briar campus. Jane Ann had a couple of students build them to spy on the Smith teams.
- The Nicknamer: Abby. It gets lampshaded that she's always giving people nicknames by their most noticable thing.
- Throat-Slitting Gesture: Scarf makes one to the Briar Academy headmaster when stating what will happen if he doesn't succeed in getting him the data he needs.
- Tracking Device: Poppy developed a smart fabric that tells you if you're too hot, too cold, hungry, or whatever else, and tracks your location. Abby and Poppy use it to track Owen's location to a derelict plantation house in Hawaii.
- White Hair, Black Heart: The Ghost is described as having white hair.
