The League of Unexceptional Children 3 – The Kids Who Knew Too Little

Gitty Daneshvari's The Kids Who Knew Too Little is a very silly spy story for 9 year olds, and it's the third and final League of Unexceptional Children adventure.

What happens

Jonathan and Shelley are twelve and so forgettable that a secret government department recruited them as spies. Nobody notices them, which turns out to be useful. They were picked, in the book's own words, for their lack of brains, sporting talent and memorability.

This time it's personal. Jonathan's parents are dog walkers who think the House and the Senate are bands. And they've just been arrested for treason. They downloaded a secret map of the tunnels under Washington from a client's computer because two teenage girls told them it would help an Alien Intelligence Agency catch aliens. (There is no Alien Intelligence Agency.)

The trail leads to a secret society in Bulgaria. In fact the book opens there, with Jonathan and Shelley wading through a filthy tunnel while masked figures chant in Latin behind them. Then it jumps back three days to show how they got into this mess.

Shelley is the reason to read it. She never stops talking. She's the ketchup to Jonathan's French fry, she's furious that his parents' arrest has made him famous instead of her, and she wants everyone to know she once started a petition to make herself famous. Then there's Carl, who can blend into any background and insists there's a silent h in his name.

It's loud, fast and packed with jokes, and a lot of them are very daft. Who else would try reverse psychology on God?

Worth knowing before you hand it over

The opening chapter is properly tense for a comedy, with the two friends tied to chairs and hot candle wax dripped on Shelley's hand. Some of the jokes are dark too, about dying and coffins, plus one throwaway line about serial killers that even Shelley admits crossed the line. Most readers who like silly adventure will take it in their stride. A child who is easily spooked might want an adult nearby for the first chapter.

It's also very American, with jokes about the CIA and famous spy trials that some readers won't know. They won't need to, though. The story explains what matters.

What to read next

Since this is the finale, it's best read after the other two. If your reader hasn't met Jonathan and Shelley yet, start them where the League of Unexceptional Children began, with the two kids nobody can remember being picked for a job nobody else could do.