SCHOOL FOR S.P.I.E.S. Books in Order

Max Segredo has been passed from foster home to foster home, so he is used to expecting the worst. After he is blamed for a fire, he lands at the Merry Sunshine Orphanage on his thirteenth birthday. The name sounds cheerful. The truth is much more interesting.

Merry Sunshine is actually a school for young spies. Its students learn surveillance, lock picking, martial arts, and the other skills needed for secret missions. Max quickly finds friends, rivals, and adults who may be more complicated than they first appear.

It is not a normal orphanage.

The first book, Playing with Fire, follows Max as he discovers the school’s hidden purpose and receives word that his father, Simon Segredo, may still be alive. That news pulls him into a larger conflict involving LOTUS, a dangerous spy organization with plans that threaten both the school and the government.

Max wants answers about his family, but he also has to decide who to trust. The series keeps returning to that tension. Blood family matters to him, especially after years of uncertainty, yet the people at Merry Sunshine slowly become a family of their own. His choices can put both groups at risk.

The books blend espionage action with school comedy. Missions involve gadgets, break-ins, disguises, and narrow escapes, but the students are still kids learning to work together. They make mistakes, squabble, and deal with the awkward parts of friendship while trying to outsmart trained adult villains.

The danger gets bigger with each book.

In Thicker Than Water, pressure on the school and questions around Max’s father push the trainees into a race for a powerful device. Ends of the Earth brings the central conflict with LOTUS toward its conclusion. Reading in order is strongly recommended because Max’s family story and the threat to the school carry through all three books.

The setting gives the series its special flavor. An orphanage is supposed to be a safe, quiet place, but here it has secret passageways, unusual classes, and young agents preparing for the next emergency. Hale uses that contrast for humor without losing sight of Max’s need for a place where he belongs.

Readers who like kid spies, team missions, and stories about found family will find plenty to enjoy here. Start with Playing with Fire and let Max show you what is really behind the doors of Merry Sunshine.