Congrats on the new book release! I’ve been a longtime fan of Spy School and have bought every book in the series as it’s come out. It’s pretty crazy to think I started reading the series in elementary school and have now graduated college. Picking up a new book always brings back good memories.
I was curious if you have any idea what the age breakdown of your readers looks like. I imagine there are quite a few people like me who grew up with the series and still follow it today.
I also wanted to share something I’ve been thinking about. I feel like the more recent books haven’t quite captured the same magic as the earlier ones, though I’m sure part of that comes from me getting older. I know you’ve mentioned that you don’t plan on aging up the characters, but do you think that’s something you might ever reconsider, especially given how many readers have grown up alongside the series?
Regardless, I’ll always be a fan and hope the series continues for years to come. Thanks for all the great memories!
Nostalgia
First of all, I am very pleased to learn that you have continued to enjoy my books.
I do not have exact figures for ho my audience breaks down. While I hear from many readers like you, I know that I still have a very large base of middle grade readers.
The fact is, it is very hard to age up a series, because I still need to appeal to my younger readers and write books that they can read. As far as I know, there is only one series in history that had such an enormous fan base that the author was able to age it up along with her readers: Harry Potter. Even Percy Jackson and Diary of a Wimpy Kid haven’t been able to do that.
And that does create a problem for Harry Potter (though it hasn’t really slowed the sales down.). New generations of kids often can’t read that entire series in one shot. My own children read a few books, then had to shelve the series for a while until they were old enough to continue it, which is a relatively common experience.
So I’m in a place where I really have to keep writing for the middle grade target audience — while at the same time trying to write books that older readers can still enjoy.
Mr. Gibbs
First, wow. I don’t know how you respond to all these people. I have read most of your books and I have a question. (Now, before you read this, I must warn you, it may or may not be a question you told everyone not to ask.) I think it would be really SWASOME if you made a spy school movie. I know it’s at least 50 million dollars to produce but I think you, with your movie directing experience, it would be an amazing movie to see in theaters. (While also maybe seeing myself on the big screen) Lastly, I want to say, thank you for writing all the books you have wrote and making my 13 year old brain think and get invested into books. Thank you for possibly responding to my message ?
Hiiiii I’m a huge fan of yours and have read all your books. I was wondering if you were going to make any more of the books that take place in space
Hi Mr.Gibbs
You’ve talked about keeping the age rating intended for middle school readers for the Spy School series, thus being the reason we don’t see any death. Would you be interested in exploring more mature topics in a different way? Something like mental health through a certain character or questionable moral decisions (eg. banality of evil, things that don’t fall under right or wrong/good and evil.) I think something that involves morality is definitely a lot for a younger reader to chew on. But maybe it could work out?
Something I really appreciated in the ending for Spy School Project X (without getting into spoilers) was the “solution” towards all the conspiracy theories revolving around Ben and the general public’s opinion. I think it opens an interesting parallel into how some things can’t be resolved in the real world. Obviously it’s easier said than done, It’ll definitely be a difficult task to communicate these themes towards a younger audience, but if it’s done right I personally believe it can be really effective while maintain everything the younger readers already like about the series.
Levi Loose
I have been trying to get a SS movie made for well over a decade… and if you read my blog, you will see that there is some good news on this front.
Rose
Sadly, I am not going to do any more MBA books. I have an older post on this blog that explains why I made that decision.
Alvin –
I try to take on mature topics in my books all the time. I have confronted things like the banality of evil, although I generally try not to be too heavy-handed about it.
Dear Mr Gibbs, I am a long time fan of yours and I adore your books. I have a few questions if I may ask; 1: are you planning on making FunJungle a graphic novel? 2: When or at what book are you planning end Spy School. 3: Besides The original SS (which I assume is your favorite) which SS is your favorite. I want you to know how much of a difference you’ve made in my life with your books. They always leave my 12-year-old brain craving for more and every time I read a different book about spies (besides The City Spies) I can’t stand it and go back to Spy School. Thank you so so much for making the best books on earth. Your biggest fan Everett.
Everett P
Thanks for your kind words about my books (and City Spies).
I hope that FJ will be turned into grpahic novels, but that is up to my publisher.
I don’t know how many books will be in the SS series.
To be honest, I don’t have a favorite of the SS books (including the original). I work too hard on each book to say that one stands out to me above all the others.
Hi Mr. Gibbs,
Congrats on the new book release! I’ve been a longtime fan of Spy School and have bought every book in the series as it’s come out. It’s pretty crazy to think I started reading the series in elementary school and have now graduated college. Picking up a new book always brings back good memories.
I was curious if you have any idea what the age breakdown of your readers looks like. I imagine there are quite a few people like me who grew up with the series and still follow it today.
I also wanted to share something I’ve been thinking about. I feel like the more recent books haven’t quite captured the same magic as the earlier ones, though I’m sure part of that comes from me getting older. I know you’ve mentioned that you don’t plan on aging up the characters, but do you think that’s something you might ever reconsider, especially given how many readers have grown up alongside the series?
Regardless, I’ll always be a fan and hope the series continues for years to come. Thanks for all the great memories!
Nostalgia
First of all, I am very pleased to learn that you have continued to enjoy my books.
I do not have exact figures for ho my audience breaks down. While I hear from many readers like you, I know that I still have a very large base of middle grade readers.
The fact is, it is very hard to age up a series, because I still need to appeal to my younger readers and write books that they can read. As far as I know, there is only one series in history that had such an enormous fan base that the author was able to age it up along with her readers: Harry Potter. Even Percy Jackson and Diary of a Wimpy Kid haven’t been able to do that.
And that does create a problem for Harry Potter (though it hasn’t really slowed the sales down.). New generations of kids often can’t read that entire series in one shot. My own children read a few books, then had to shelve the series for a while until they were old enough to continue it, which is a relatively common experience.
So I’m in a place where I really have to keep writing for the middle grade target audience — while at the same time trying to write books that older readers can still enjoy.
Mr. Gibbs
First, wow. I don’t know how you respond to all these people. I have read most of your books and I have a question. (Now, before you read this, I must warn you, it may or may not be a question you told everyone not to ask.) I think it would be really SWASOME if you made a spy school movie. I know it’s at least 50 million dollars to produce but I think you, with your movie directing experience, it would be an amazing movie to see in theaters. (While also maybe seeing myself on the big screen) Lastly, I want to say, thank you for writing all the books you have wrote and making my 13 year old brain think and get invested into books. Thank you for possibly responding to my message ?
Hiiiii I’m a huge fan of yours and have read all your books. I was wondering if you were going to make any more of the books that take place in space
Hi Mr.Gibbs
You’ve talked about keeping the age rating intended for middle school readers for the Spy School series, thus being the reason we don’t see any death. Would you be interested in exploring more mature topics in a different way? Something like mental health through a certain character or questionable moral decisions (eg. banality of evil, things that don’t fall under right or wrong/good and evil.) I think something that involves morality is definitely a lot for a younger reader to chew on. But maybe it could work out?
Something I really appreciated in the ending for Spy School Project X (without getting into spoilers) was the “solution” towards all the conspiracy theories revolving around Ben and the general public’s opinion. I think it opens an interesting parallel into how some things can’t be resolved in the real world. Obviously it’s easier said than done, It’ll definitely be a difficult task to communicate these themes towards a younger audience, but if it’s done right I personally believe it can be really effective while maintain everything the younger readers already like about the series.
Levi Loose
I have been trying to get a SS movie made for well over a decade… and if you read my blog, you will see that there is some good news on this front.
Rose
Sadly, I am not going to do any more MBA books. I have an older post on this blog that explains why I made that decision.
Alvin –
I try to take on mature topics in my books all the time. I have confronted things like the banality of evil, although I generally try not to be too heavy-handed about it.
Dear Mr Gibbs, I am a long time fan of yours and I adore your books. I have a few questions if I may ask; 1: are you planning on making FunJungle a graphic novel? 2: When or at what book are you planning end Spy School. 3: Besides The original SS (which I assume is your favorite) which SS is your favorite. I want you to know how much of a difference you’ve made in my life with your books. They always leave my 12-year-old brain craving for more and every time I read a different book about spies (besides The City Spies) I can’t stand it and go back to Spy School. Thank you so so much for making the best books on earth. Your biggest fan Everett.
Everett P
Thanks for your kind words about my books (and City Spies).
I hope that FJ will be turned into grpahic novels, but that is up to my publisher.
I don’t know how many books will be in the SS series.
To be honest, I don’t have a favorite of the SS books (including the original). I work too hard on each book to say that one stands out to me above all the others.