The Secret Life of Kitty Granger
Living with her single father in a working-class neighborhood of London in 1967, 16-year-old Kitty doesn’t know she’s autistic. Unable to fit in at school, she left early to work in her father’s struggling variety store. She’s on the way to the library to continue her education when she sees unusual activity on the bus. Kitty is fascinated by patterns, so she follows a strange man into a nest of Soviet spies. The British agents who rescue her recognize her ability to see and integrate details; they recruit her for a team of misfit junior detectives. For the first time in her life, Kitty is part of something. The downsides of this new career: She must hide her employment from her overprotective father. She must fire weapons even though the noise and recoil frighten her. And she must pretend to be a society girl from Canada visiting the posh estate of a right-wing member of Parliament in order to find clues of a secret plot to overthrow the government.
Acclaimed steampunk author Falksen has moved into historical fiction with an eye for detail that mirrors his protagonist’s while maintaining a brisk pace that will delight young fans of historical thrillers. Kitty’s new best friend, Verity, is the perfect badass to introduce this innocent girl to the world, and their boss, Mrs. Singh, is like a favorite teacher: Tough, but always there when Kitty and Verity need her. Although Falksen wrote the book long before the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, the conspiracy that Kitty infiltrates bears eerie similarities to that event, which gives the book an added layer of relevance and urgency.
