Review by New York Times Review
THE CLOAK of American exceptionalism wears some permanent stains down its front - like slavery and the denial of civil rights. And fresh stains, too, like exaggerated income inequality. Likewise, the reality of the elite, exceptional American child is hardly as pristine as many parents imagine. Our "gifted and talented" Mandarin-speaking, travel-team-captaining, polished-in-selfies youth are often characterized by narcissism, the pursuit of achievement at any cost, toxic stress and greed: grade greed, accomplishment greed, résumé greed. Precocious superstardom is not always happy. And regular, average childhood is not necessarily a problem that needs fixing. The arrival of "The League of Unexceptional Children," by Gitty Daneshvari, the author of the School of Fear series, suggests that it could be time for the imperfect child to share a sliver of spotlight. I don't mean the uncaring or incurious child, but the child looking outward rather than in - or rather than up, as tends to be the only direction for Type A's and their offspring. At a moment when we expect more achievement and intellectual sophistication from our teenagers than from some presidential candidates, this book, the first in a planned series, proposes alternatives. There's humor and pathos in the invisibility of Jonathan Murray and Shelley Brown, 12-year-old "talentless weirdos" who have to routinely reintroduce themselves to teachers and classmates. (Is there anything more humiliating than a reintroduction? Me again.) Jonathan and Shelley are physically and academically underwhelming. They live in a Washington, D.C., suburb filled with over-achievers - a place with mandated lawn lengths and classical music pumped into the school - probably some of the same arrangements kids heard through fetal headphones in utero. But Jonathan and Shelley are tapped to join the League of Unexceptional Children, a covert spy network of kids. As undercover operatives, they're ideal. Gorgeous or aggressive brainiacs stand out. But with Jonathan and Shelley, average is the new awesome. Their mission: to rescue the kidnapped vice president before he hands over government secrets. The M.O. is delightfully low-tech, a surprising and charming detail. Messages are sent via kiwis and jalapeños rather than texts. "We are so James Bond!" Shelley marvels during a briefing. "You are not James Bond," their agency handler corrects her. "You are James Bond's cousins who are routinely left out of the family newsletter for both lack of interest and your relatives' general forgetfulness regarding your existence." The book can be funny, particularly the dialogue between Jonathan and Shelley - her misreading of people's intentions and buoyant if naive optimism, his more glum and depressive slant. But Shelley's relentless quirkiness, itself a form of eccentric precocity, becomes repetitive. Strong characterization is important in the first book of a series, but many of the jokes are predictable. I found myself wishing for more of the lovely and moving passages in which the characters examined why they felt forgettable and often lonely. What's most exciting is the very premise of the unexceptionals' rise. This first book exposes young readers to global intrigue - brushes with prime ministers, the risks of undercover work, krav maga, pubescent insecurity, even ... newspapers! There are the doubts and doublecrosses that covert agents must navigate - hazards we've become familiar with from "Homeland" and Jason Bourne-type narratives. But our Unexceptionals put their hesitations aside, even when forced to work with a pair of dazzling Exceptional in order to uncover the motivation for an unprecedented security breach. Let's just say they should have been focusing less on world leaders and more on insufferable child prodigies. Outcasts, nerds and economically abandoned kids have long found space in books and films oriented toward adventure. Daneshvari recognizes that far more powerful than a dork becoming cool is the ignored finally being heard, the invisible seen. Here's hoping we will be witnessing much more of Jonathan and Shelley's kind of transformation, on the page and in life. Now that would be the best kind of American exceptionalism. RENEE DALE writes for publications including GQ, Glamour and Self.
Copyright (c) The New York Times Company [November 24, 2015]
Review by Booklist Review
After someone breaks into the White House, kidnaps the vice president, and steals a vital computer code, the country's most secretive spy agency recruits two undistinguished middle-school kids to solve the case and save the world. Growing up in a town full of overachievers, 12-year-olds Shelley and Jonathan are used to people forgetting their names and their faces, but that's what qualifies them for the League of Unexceptional Children. They bumble through their training and, though they're prepared to fail big, they succeed in the end. While the initial premise and some plot elements may be hard to swallow, everything else in this amusing chapter book goes down easy. Even with the fate of the world resting on their slightly hunched shoulders, the main characters are so disarmingly upfront about their inadequacies that they'll definitely have readers on their side. Recommended for fans of Daneshvari's School of Fear series as well as kids growing up in communities where all the children are above average. --Phelan, Carolyn Copyright 2015 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
This series opener from Daneshvari (the School of Fear series) pokes sly fun at the pressure to raise future valedictorians and CEOs, by turning the tables on the classic trope of an average kid discovering secret greatness. Twelve-year-old students Jonathan Murray and Shelley Brown have unimpressive intellectual capacities and banal personalities-which makes them perfect candidates for the League of Unexceptional Children. The secret organization is facing a crisis: the U.S. vice president, one of two people in possession of a code that could compromise national security, has been kidnapped. Jonathan and Shelley need to decide if they trust the League before racing against the clock to try to find the v-p. Daneshvari's fast-paced, twisty story is chock-full of clever humor ("You are not James Bond," an elder agent explains. "You are James Bond's cousins who are routinely left out of the family newsletter for both a lack of interest and your relatives' general forgetfulness regarding your existence") and will give readers a new appreciation for the average, as well as an appetite for the next book. Ages 8-12. Agent: Sarah Burnes, Gernert Company. (Oct.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 4-6-Twelve-year-old Shelley and Jonathan are average kids: forgettable, normal, and looked over. In fact, many of their classmates have been going to school with them for years and would not be able to recognize them if they were stuck in an elevator together. However, their ordinariness is the qualifying trait that the League of Unexceptional Children is looking for. The League is a covert network of spies that are, well, unexceptional. The unexceptionals are the forgotten ones, the spies that can slip in and out of a room without anyone bothering to notice. After an inept security guard allowed the White House to be breached, several monumental things have happened: the vice president is missing, the nation's greatest spies are deactivated, and several confidential documents and data are compromised. Thankfully, Shelley and Jonathan are average, forgettable, but perfect additions to the League of Unexceptional Children. They have vowed to risk their lives for their country's liberties, all the while answering to the wrong name. From the best-selling author of School of Fear (2010) and the "Ghoulfriends Forever" series (both Little, Brown), comes a humorous middle grade novel that keeps readers giggling. The story flows easily through short chapters with interwoven art that further captures the humor of Jonathan and Shelley's case. VERDICT With humor that both girls and boys will enjoy, this likable book is a good fit for most collections.-Brittney Kosev, Dave Blair Elementary School, Farmers Branch, TX © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Jonathan and Shelley--average, unmemorable twelve-year-olds--are ideal spies for The League of Unexceptional Children. The unremarkable duo must save the day when the vice president is kidnapped and the nation's secrets are threatened. The one-note premise wears thin, but fans of comic mysteries should enjoy this projected series debut. Cartoon illustrations break up the text. (c) Copyright 2016. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Below-average middle schoolers Jonathan and Shelley have one ability that makes them, well, not stand out but rather blend in: they are utterly unremarkable. It is this quality that makes them ideal recruits for the top-secret League of Unexceptional Children, an organization of kid and teen spies dedicated to protecting national security. As recruiter Hammett explains, "You are right there in the world's blind spot." So it is that these preteens bravely answer the call of duty to find the culprit who has kidnapped the vice president of the United States and, with him, the code that could bring destruction to all, no matter how dull or exceptional. With this promising premise, Daneshvari delivers hilarious shenanigans and moments of verbal delight, as when giving a very specific order to a fast-food cashier ("a double dog with a side of mustard, two sides of relish, a can of diet Fanta, fourteen packets of ketchup, two straws, and seven napkins") yields the protagonists entry to an oversized fridge, pushing on the back of which allows them into the league's HQ; as Shelley puts it, "It's kind of like Narnia, only with a lot of pork products." These moments will help readers past the occasional odd jerks of the plot that make the story at times difficult to follow.This humorous new series is sure to appeal to fans of Daneshvari and other lovers of the ludicrous. (Adventure. 8-12) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
