The exclusive edition of Spy School Project X is now available from Barnes & Noble!

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Good news!  As has been the case with every Spy School novel since Evil Spy School, there will be an exclusive edition of Spy School Project X.

This B&N limited collector’s edition of Spy School Project X, the tenth book in Stuart Gibbs’s New York Times bestselling Spy School series, featuring an exclusive jacket with shiny red foil–plus 10 pages of bonus content that will feature “top ten” lists such as Ben Ripley’s Top Ten Least Favorite Action Sequences (Because of How Scary They Were), Erica Hale’s Top Ten Martial Arts Moves, Mike Brezinski’s Top Ten Things James Bond Movies Get Wrong About Spying, The Top Ten Lessons from Spy School and many more!

And if you pre-order it now, it’s even CHEAPER than the regular hardcover.

Click here to get it!

378 thoughts on “The exclusive edition of Spy School Project X is now available from Barnes & Noble!”

  1. professor avocado –

    I have noticed a really interesting trend among my readers as they age up, which is the belief that somehow not killing off characters is a failure to raise stakes.

    A few things to remember:

    1) These books are still written for younger readers. I hope that they will be enjoyed by older readers as well, but they still need to be appropriate for younger readers.

    2) It is very rare for heroes in spy movies to be wounded or killed. In fact, they are generally cartoonishly impervious to danger. I have never heard anyone complain that James Bond has no stakes or Mission: Impossible doesn’t have stakes because of this. Meanwhile, my character do get hurt. Ben ended up in the hospital after SSR.

    3) Often in my books, the fate of the free world hangs in the balance. Aren’t those pretty big stakes?

    4) Killing or maiming a character isn’t a guarantee for creating stakes. If it doesn’t fit within the story, then I’d be doing it just to do it. Which is not how I write.

  2. Stu-

    There’s actually a big difference between spy movies like MI and your spy school books:

    1. Movies, especially action movies, have a unique way of capturing attention and raising the stakes because you can actually see it happening from your own eyes instead of imagining it.

    2. Films like these also have stunts which (no offense please dont criticize me like 100x now) are much much more entertaining than yours. Like for example the iconic scene in MI: Ghost Protocol where Ethan is climbing up the Burj Khalifa. I feel like the action sequences is your books are much more dampened.

    3. People in both these movies get injured/see someone get injured countless times. I know that your books are meant for kids and thats why I’m not telling you to add that type of stuff, but I’m just saying that it isn’t “very rare” for heroes in spy movies to be injured/maimed. Also, when you say that Ben goes to the hospital at the end of SSR; it only shows him in the hospital for half a page and the time difference between the 2 books SSR and SSAS is 1 month, which is definitely not enough time to recover from a fracture, and even if his arm is sprained he should have still had a hard time doing some tasks with that arm.

    Okay thanks for reading my essay

  3. Dhruv

    One question: Exactly how many times in the entire MI series and James Bond series has either Ethan Hunt or James Bond ended up in the hospital?

  4. the main hero of the story might not be mortally wounded in combat (and even then, james bond himself dies in no time to die), but the emotional stakes in these stories really come from when the hero’s allies and loved ones are the ones under threat, because these are characters not as able as our hero and we care so much for them. relations are often the achilles heel and the strongest way to hurt a hero who is physically superior to their enemies, and while this is done well with erica’s earlier character arc, when all of ben’s friends are so strong, you can’t really achieve this effect.

    Of course, word-ending situations are quite high stakes as well, but we also know that none of the schemes will ever play out, so it takes away from the stakes.

    but I still appreciate how you find a way to maintain stakes in the form of the emotional connections between characters and how their relationships are affected by the missions. it’s true that stakes don’t have to come from the possibility of character deaths, but more of what happens to their relationships, probably because it’s something we can all relate to and therefore means the most to us. just wanted to express my thoughts, and i still love the books for the characters and action!

  5. Stu-

    Of the top of my head, I can remember one part in MI 4 when after the (spoilers btw) Kremlin gets bombed, he ends up in a hospital injured. I’m not going to spoil more but I’m sure if I think about it more I can find 2 other instances.

    I don’t know about James Bond because I didn’t enjoy the movies that much.

  6. professor avocado –

    I am thinking that you have not seen nearly as many James Bond movies as I have. What you are claiming happens in them almost never happens in them. (And JB died in the 25th movie. After 60 years of the franchise. Which was also the first time he’d ever really been wounded.)

    Once again, remember, this is a series for kids. I’m not going to hurt anyone badly or kill anyone off. It will not happen.

  7. Dhruv –

    He was in the hospital because he had been knocked unconscious. Once he regained consciousness, he was leaping off the building a few minutes later. That’s not really a debilitating (or even minor) injury.

  8. Hi Mr. Gibbs,

    Where do you get your inspiration for action sequences in the books? Such as the climax fights in SSBI and SSR (I dont want to spoil anyone so I wont say the specific events). Is it from movies maybe, like Mission Impossible, James Bond or other films?

    Looking forward to the next entry in the series!

  9. Alvin –

    I often get my ideas for action sequences from my travels. My kids and I worked out the final action sequence in SSBI at the location where it happens, while the sequence at the end of SSR was inspired by a visit to that location long before I had the idea for the book itself. I just always thought that would be a great place for an action sequence.

  10. I don’t know if you know this but in the new Stephen King movie Mr. Harrigan’s Phone, Evil Spy School appears next to the main character Craig’s bed multiple times throughout the movie. I wasn’t expecting that and think its kinda weird since a couple people (myself included) were talking about King here recently.

    Anyway its a pretty good movie, I’d recommend it.

  12. Dear Mr Gibbs,
    I just wanted to say that your book are by far the best book ever! I own every single book. I know you will probably never see this but I just wanted to thank you for all of you awesome books.

  14. Stuart Gibbs-

    are you planing on making SS,MBA,FJ,CT,OAT,or TLM zipper jacket merchandise
    because that is the only thing with a logo that my scholl will let us wear.

  15. In addition to Once Upon A Tim signings, will you be doing SSPX signings in Madison, CT as well?

  18. – Mr.GIbbs

    DId you get the Idea of “THE TRUTH” from the internet cus there is a website with the actual name and everything.

  19. BEN RIPLEY101

    No, I made up that name. But I figured that no matter what name I chose, there was probably going to be a site with that name.

  23. Mr.Gibbs

    I have two questions

    1. Are you going to change the series when Erica graduates?

    2. When the whole Spy school gang graduates are you going continue this series or make a new one

  24. THEKNIGHT!!

    I am probably going to end the series before Erica graduates. But don’t worry, there is plenty of time for lots more adventures.

  25. Mr.Gibbs

    How come none of your books get released in the summer? Is there a specific reason?

  26. stuart gibbs-
    my school allows us to wear hoodies with a logo so I was wondering wether or not the spy silhouette is a logo

  28. THEKNIGHT!!

    Charlie Thorne and the Curse of Cleopatra got released in June. I am pretty sure that is summer.

    However, much of my marketing involves school visits and bookstore visits, which are all easier to do during the school year, when kids are in school and not traveling.

  29. SS super fan

    I would consider the spy silhouette a logo.

    But I suppose it’s really up to your school to decide that.

  30. SS super fan –

    Even if you don’t go to a physical school, you can still be educated.

  34. trixie&mikeforever –

    Please see my blog post about why the MBA series has ended for a detailed explanation.

  35. The 8th Grader –

    Please be more specific. What kind of spacing are you talking about?

  37. Why does Ben stay friends with Zoe, despite her attempt to backstab Erica and Ben earlier in the series? I know it was good-intentioned, but still…

    Thanks!

  38. The 8th Grader –

    I don’t typeset my books, so I honestly don’t know what the spacing is. (When I write my drafts, I double space, but that’s for my own ease of reading.)

  39. Asdf Poil

    1) Zoe was trying to protect ben and Ben understands that.

    2) Ben is a good person, and good people understand that other people sometimes make mistakes.

    3) A mistake isn’t worth ruining a good friendship for.

  40. Hi Stu!
    I just have a question—
    So you said that these books are meant for younger readers, which they are. But then why are the other SS and CT more dramatic than the new ones this year? I know that this year is different compared to other years because people take things ALOT more seriously now. But the new SS book is not really as dramatic as the others, same thing with the new CT book.
    Thanks, Stu!

  41. Hey Mr. Gibbs,
    It’s Sofi again. So I forgot to be more specific. There was a lot of drama in both of them, you are right. But in all of the other ones, the drama happens to the PEOPLE. Like Ben and Charlie get beat up, knocked out, burns, thrown off a building, etc. But in the newest novels, they get CLOSE CALLS, but nothing ever happens to Ben. I did like how Charlie got hurt, though. That’s why I love your books so much, because I love the feeling of reading someone getting hurt , haha. Anyways, thanks so much Mr Gibbs!

  42. Hi Sofi/James Bond Fan

    You seem to be equating drama with the idea that someone gets hurt. I would argue that there are lots of other ways to create drama, and that many people would say that the new books are just as dramatic as the previous ones.

    That said, every story is different. If I had Ben get hurt in every one of them, that might feel repetitive. And yes, these books are meant for younger readers. That means that Ben is not going to get shot or stabbed or nearly burned to death. If that’s what you’re really hoping for… sorry. But if you’re looking for fun adventures with strong characters and lots of suspense and some good jokes as well, then I still think my books will work for you.

  45. Hi Mr. Gibbs!

    I met you in January (and meeting you, by the way, was the best day of my life) and I sent you a thank-you letter that I hope you got. Anyway, I just wanted to say I love your books SO MUCH! They are amazing, and I talk about them every day and can recite many parts of them, and am slowly turning myself into a human audio book for spy school. I LOVED SSPX, and I got it on the day it came out because I pre-ordered it in like March ?. I think your books are the best books in the WORLD!

    -Katie Vonnegut (SpySchoolGoldfish)

  46. SpySchoolGoldfish

    Hi Katie! I did get your thank you note. It was very nice to receive. I am so pleased that you have continued to enjoy my books. Thanks so much for your enthusiasm for my book!

  49. Elliott Root –

    I do not know how many more SS books are coming out, but if you look in the Upcoming Releases box on every single page of this website, you will find information about the SS11 release date.

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