I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You

Bibliography

Carter, Ally. I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You. 2006. New York, NY: Hyperion ISBN 1-4231-0003-4

Critical Analysis

From the outside, the Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women looks like every other snooty, rich prep school, but the inside tells a whole other story. That is if you even figure out how to get in... Cammie Morgan also seems like just another prep school girl with nothing particularly special about her until she meets "townie" Josh and learns that she has more to offer than just being "Cammie the Chamelon."

Gallagher Academy is a school for geniuses who may or may not be training to be spies. The book's setting alone provides for an exciting and eventful story. The secret passageways and hi-tech accommodations keep the characters and readers on their toes, wondering what invention is going to pop up next. Gallagher Academy grads can take credit for the development of such inventions as Velcro, duct tape and Evapopaper- "paper that instantly dissolves when you put it in your mouth." It's little facts like this that help to make I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You, fun and light-hearted while still dealing with the heavier issues of girl world.

Cammie puts the social atmosphere of school best when she says"even though Gallagher Academy is a school for girl geniuses, sometimes the emphasis should be kept on the girl." Despite the fact that the girls can speak 14 different languages and are well-trained in hand-to-hand combat, they still have to deal with the rumor mill, worry about studying for class, parent issues and boys. There is a character and situation for every type of girl in this book whether they are a spy-in-training or a regular girl. Cammie's friend Liz is studious and follows the rules precisely but is put in positions several times in the book where she has to weigh the options of following the rules or helping a friend. Macy McHenry, a senator's daughter and new enrollee to Gallagher Academy, is behind in school and not immediately accepted by the girls because of her seeming bad attitude and abrupt manner, but she slowly makes friends showing that there is more to meet the eye with people. 

Main character and narrator Cammie makes the biggest transformation after being noticed by Josh, a cute boy in town, during a mission. She is so used to being a "chameleon" that she is shocked that a boy could be interested in her. Despite all of her hard work and training at school she is still clueless when it comes to interacting with the opposite sex, making this super-spy teen easy for any teenage girl to relate to. 

Book Club Ideas

Create a "mission" at the library. Make clues that pertain to the book that will take the readers around to different sections of the library, eventually leading them to the "secret" meet-up spot in the library where a book discussion will take place. This exercise provides a fun and inventive way for young adults to explore the library.

External Analysis

"Cammie Morgan, 15, is a student at Gallagher Academy, a top-secret boarding school for girls who are spies-in-training. She studies covert operations, culture and assimilation, and advanced encryption, and has learned to speak 14 languages. Her troubles begin when she falls for Josh, a local boy who has no clue about her real identity. Keeping her training secret forces her to lie to her new love, which leads to comic complications. Subplots include Cammie's relationship with her mother–the headmistress at Gallagher–and her grief over the loss of her father, who died while on a spying assignment. The teen's double life leads to some amusing one-liners, and the invented history of the Gallagher Girls is also entertaining, but the story is short on suspense."- Miranda Doyle, School Library Journal