Spy School Quotes

“that none of the locks on the toilet stalls in the common restroom worked.”
― Stuart Gibbs, Spy School

“I'm not playing! I really am stupid!”
― Stuart Gibbs, Spy School

“You' re Benjamin Ripley, aren't you?"
"Uh... no." It was worth a shot.
And for half a second it almost seemed to work. The assassin hesitated, slightly confused, then asked, "Then who are you?"
"Jonathan Monkeywarts" I winced. It had been the first name to popped into my head. I made a mental note to be more prepared next time this happened.”
― Stuart Gibbs, Spy School

“This morning’s lecture was on how to avoid ninjas, which might have been interesting if step one hadn’t been “Stay out of Japan.” Furthermore, Crandall had quickly become sidetracked,”
― Stuart Gibbs, Spy School

“Our refrigerator ended up in the neighbor’s pool. They found the microwave three blocks away.”
― Stuart Gibbs, Spy School

“I’ll find you sooner or later!” Later still seemed like the better option to me.”
― Stuart Gibbs, Spy School

“Welcome back, Ben,” Erica said. I started in surprise before realizing the voice was coming from inside my head. Alexander had slipped a two-way radio into my ear. There were lots of people out and about. The enemy had taken my cell phone, but I put my hand to my ear and pretended to be talking on one anyhow. No one gave me a second glance. Virtually everyone else was on a cell phone themselves. “Can you hear me?” I asked. “Loud and clear,” Erica replied. “Where are you?” “Still on campus, looking into things. But I need you to tail someone for me.” “Chip?” “No. I think he’s clean.” “What? But—” “I’ll explain later. Right now I need you to go after Tina. She’s the mole . . . and she’s on the move.”
― Stuart Gibbs, Spy School

“Things couldn’t possibly get worse.”
― Stuart Gibbs, Spy School

“Mom was big on commemorative dinners, throwing them for things as mundane as my getting elected captain of the school chess team, even though I was the only student on the school chess team.”
― Stuart Gibbs, Spy School

“The principal turned as red as the bottom of a baboon. He stormed toward me, getting right in my face. “Am I to assume, Mr. Ripley, that you think you’re not already in enough trouble today? Are you asking for an even worse punishment?” “Whatever it is, it couldn’t be worse than your breath,” I said. “What’d you have for lunch, dog poo?”
― Stuart Gibbs, Spy School

“release me—an eye gouge or a knee to the testicles—though the best I managed was to drive my elbow into a chair. “Oh, for Pete’s sake!” Chip snarled. “Would you just fight like a man?” “I’ll pass,” I said. The Bashful Armadillo was working for me. “What is going on here?!” The principal’s voice was frightening enough to scare even Chip cold. Our fight stopped instantly. For the first time since emerging from the subterranean level, I had a chance to take in my surroundings.”
― Stuart Gibbs, Spy School

“1. The SACSA exam was probably designed to weed out people.”
― Stuart Gibbs, Spy School

“Inside, the grounds were surprisingly large. There were vast expanses of lawn that I assumed would be beautiful in spring, although they were currently buried under a foot of snow. And beyond the buildings stood a large, pristine swath of forest, untouched since the days when our forefathers had decided a fetid, malaria-ridden swamp on the Potomac River was the perfect place to build our nation’s capital.”
― Stuart Gibbs, Spy School

“He was trying to give the president’s wife a compliment, but he botched his Swahili and ended up telling her she smelled like a diseased wildebeest.”
― Stuart Gibbs, Spy School

“And perhaps most important… “Is there a men’s room anywhere nearby?” I asked. “I really have to pee.” This would be the first time I experienced what is generally referred to in spy school as “Hogarth’s theory of fear-based urination”: The amount of danger you are in is directly proportional to your need to pee.”
― Stuart Gibbs, Spy School

“bomber”
― Stuart Gibbs, Spy School

“There was nothing I could do except homework. I cracked open Forsyth’s Basics of Cryptography, read until my eyes went bleary, then looked at my clock and saw it was only four thirty in the afternoon. Time really crawled when you were on lockdown. I struggled through another chapter, nodding off seventeen or eighteen times, then checked my clock again. It was still four thirty in the afternoon. Either time really crawled when you were on lockdown or my clock was broken. I checked my phone. In fact, it was eight thirty at night, which explained why I was so darn hungry. No one had come to get me for dinner. I wondered if this was part of my punishment or if the administration had simply forgotten about me. I’d now been at spy school long enough to guess it was the latter, which began to worry me. I could get through the night without food, but if someone didn’t remember I was in the Box by the next morning, things could get dicey. Still, it wasn’t worth panicking yet. Maybe this was merely a test to see how I handled pressure. If so, I’d show them I was a tough egg to crack. For the benefit of any cameras that might have been on me, I played it cool, as though I were really enjoying being on lockdown. I laid back on my cot and gave a contented sigh. “This is great,” I said to any concealed microphones. “All this time to myself. It’s like being on vacation.” Then I casually examined my clock to see if I could keep it from telling me that it was eternally four thirty in the afternoon.”
― Stuart Gibbs, Spy School

“all it would have done was blow up a couple trees and a lot of canned peas.” “Maybe the bomber was only looking to cause a little bit of trouble,” I suggested. “To send a message or something.” “What message does blowing up a bunch of canned peas send?” Erica asked. “Um… stop serving us canned peas?” “I think you could probably get that point across with an e-mail.” “Not if you wanted to ensure there were no more canned peas to serve.” “Drop the canned peas thing, Ben. It’s not going to fly.”
― Stuart Gibbs, Spy School

“instantaneous molecular dispersion.”
― Stuart Gibbs, Spy School

“The girl sitting on my chest appeared to be a few years older than me, maybe fourteen or fifteen, with thick dark hair and incredibly blue eyes. Her skin was flawless, her cheekbones were sculpted, and her lips were full. She was slight of build—almost delicate—and yet she’d been powerful enough to flatten me in half a second. She even smelled incredible, an intoxicating combination of lilacs and gunpowder. But perhaps the most attractive thing about her was how calm and confident she was in the midst of a life-or-death situation.”
― Stuart Gibbs, Spy School

“There’s a bomb under the school.”
― Stuart Gibbs, Spy School

“Hello, Ben,” said the man in my living room. “My name is Alexander Hale. I work for the CIA.” And just like that, my life became interesting.”
― Stuart Gibbs, Spy School

“yet,”
― Stuart Gibbs, Spy School

“Absolutely.”
― Stuart Gibbs, Spy School

“I grinned back. In that instant all my misgivings about the Academy of Espionage flitted away. Sure, the place was poorly managed, run-down, and occasionally life-threatening, but I now felt like I belonged there. I’d proven myself, I’d made friends, I’d earned the respect of the most beautiful girl I’d ever met… and I’d thwarted the plot of a criminal mastermind to behead the entire intelligence community of the United States of America. Regular school couldn’t hold a candle to that. For the first time since I’d arrived on campus, I had a sense that everything was going to work out for me there. Across the quad Alexander Hale emerged from behind the chemistry building with his gun raised. He cautiously approached Murray’s prone body and nudged it with his foot a few times to make sure he was really unconscious. A door banged open, and a dozen men in three-piece suits and military uniforms poured out of the Hale Building. I recognized the principal’s red face among them. “Is that the kid who planted the bomb?” he asked. “Yes, but he won’t be causing us any more trouble.” Alexander set one foot upon Murray’s haunch and posed dramatically, as if Murray were a grizzly bear he’d downed. “I’ve neutralized him.” The espionage elite and military leaders reacted with awe. There were shouts of “Well done” and “Bravo!” A few actually applauded. Alexander bowed dramatically, soaking up their praise. I turned to Erica, stunned. “Did your father just steal all the credit for what I’ve done?” “Looks that way.” Erica put a friendly arm around my shoulders and smiled. “Welcome to the wonderful world of espionage.”
― Stuart Gibbs, Spy School

“respect”
― Stuart Gibbs, Spy School

“done” and “Bravo!” A few actually applauded. Alexander bowed dramatically,”
― Stuart Gibbs, Spy School

“Van de Graaff electrostatic generator.”
― Stuart Gibbs, Spy School

“maybe”
― Stuart Gibbs, Spy School

“cover their asses,”
― Stuart Gibbs, Spy School