Top-secret Smackdown - (Mac B., Kid Spy) by Mac Barnett (Hardcover)

About the Book

There is a legend that if the ravens at the Tower of London ever leave then Britain will fall, so when somebody steals the birds, the Queen calls for Mac B. to find the thief and retrieve them--a mission that takes him to Iceland, where he encounters secret submarines, hungry polar bears, and his arch-nemesis from the KGB.

Book Synopsis

Mac B. is on a madcap adventure in this New York Times bestseling series! This time a stolen raven threatens to topple the Queen... and it's up to Mac to smackdown his KGB rival once and for all!

Ravens have been stolen from the Tower of London! Mac B.'s top-secret mission? Travel to Iceland and retrieve the ravens... or Britain is ruined!In Iceland, Mac discovers secret submarines, hungry polar bears, mysterious blueprints... and his old archnemesis! Is the KGB man behind this birdnapping? Can Mac get the ravens to safety? It's time for an epic, top secret smackdown between these two secret agents! With full-color illustrations on every page and fascinating historical facts woven throughout, this series offers adventure, intrigue, absurdity, history, and humor. Catch the latest in the totally smart and sidesplittingly funny series, Mac B., Kid Spy.

Review Quotes

Praise for Top Secret Smackdown (Mac B., Kid Spy #3): Exciting action sneakily infused with points about the relationship between reality and story, delivered by a narrator who can claim with literal truth that he saved the day on porpoise. -- Kirkus ReviewsMac, kid spy international, is back! On special assignment from the Queen of England herself, Mac drops everything back in the United States to assist in a missing raven caper in which the Russians may be involved. This short chapter book, with a familiar graphic style from previous volumes, does not disappoint. Mac travels all the way to Iceland to track down spies and the Queen's beloved corgis somehow get entangled in the adventures as well. Silly high jinks ensue as Mac saves the day in this third installment. VERDICT Highly recommended for fans of the series, this title features more of the wacky humor they have come to expect. -- School Library JournalPraise for The Impossible Crime (Mac B., Kid Spy #2): : An instant New York Times BestsellerBarnett opens his casebook again -- this time to solve a classic locked-room mystery... Almost every page contains Lowery's illustrations, loosely drawn and garishly colored in green and orange, which give the whole affair a zany feel that is much enhanced by the narrative with its running gags. Kudos to a pint-size Poirot, pre-Mustache! -- BooklistBarnett's signature dry wit and snappy back-and-forths, particularly between the ingenuously sincere Mac and the standoffish Queen, keep the story steadily moving forward; a convoluted historical account of Colonel Blood's attempted robbery... Lowery's cartoony spot art, in black, green, and orange, provides additional historical and cultural information and frequently supports the narrative. -- Horn BookBarnett and Lowery team up again in this second outing of international espionage mystery with royal overtones... this is a nifty mystery for young readers and a worthy sequel to the first. -- Kirkus ReviewsPraise for Mac Undercover (Mac B., Kid Spy #1): A New York Times BestsellerAn Amazon Best Book of 2018* Barnett and Lowery bring the funny to the serious art of espionage in a perfect interplay of text and illustration... Barnett interweaves tidbits of global history fit for trivia lovers, while Lowery's comic-style images play a key role in the humor... Told with a sense of nostalgia for 1980s history and pop culture, the silliness and originality of this book will hook young readers. -- School Library Journal, starred reviewBarnett takes his readers on a fun-filled ride... Barnett's tone throughout the story is humorous, lighthearted, and a little glib, and the over-the-top story is sure to appeal to many readers... an enjoyable romp that will leave readers salivating for the sequel. -- Kirkus Reviews[Barnett's] riotous series debut as an adult recalling a 1980s childhood caper... goofy, two-color pictures by Lowery (the Doodle Adventure series) ramp up the silliness of this adventure... which should snare even the most hesitant readers. -- Publishers WeeklyBarnett's knack for both quirky situational humor and heartfelt sentiment work in tandem to create a balanced--while still outrageous--early-chapter-book caper. Lowery's frequent cartoony black, yellow, and blue spot illustrations are integral to the narrative, providing clues to eagle-eyed readers and enhancing the humor. -- The Horn BookBarnett's series falls squarely in line with works from Jon Scieszka's and Dav Pilkey's oeuvres, offering kids another solid choice for what to read next. -- The Bulletin of the Center for Children's BooksFunny as a crumpet. (But truly, secretly a hundred times smarter.) -- Jon Scieszka, author of the Caldecott Honor book The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales and the New York Times bestselling series Frank Einstein.With a perfectly absurd premise, dialogue that demands outlandish accents, and a plot that interweaves global history and complete silliness, Barnett royally nails it. -- Abby Hanlon, author of the Dory Fantasmagory seriesPraise for Mac Barnett: [Mac Barnett is] a great young writer of books for young people. If you haven't read his work, run somewhere and do that. Books for young people have a rich and I daresay limitless future--knock anyone who says otherwise into a ditch--and Mac has a central place within that limitless future. Don't bet against him or anyone like him. -- Dave Eggers[In Barnett's books] there is no magic solution to any problem: The characters stumble through their dilemmas just as every one of us does. The world is a difficult yet good place, and there is no need for the typical rose-colored lenses that other children's books put on situations in order to fend off the bad stuff. -- Yiyun LiHe is a believer that picture books can have Swiftian absurdity and untidy endings, and that 'life is absurd, and kids know that. -- The San Francisco Chronicle

About The Author

Mac Barnett is the author of several books for children, including Extra Yarn, illustrated by Jon Klassen, a Caldecott Honor Book and winner of a Boston Globe-Horn Book Award; The Wolf, the Duck, and the Mouse, a New York Timesbestseller; and Sam and Dave Dig a Hole, a Caldecott Honor Book and winner of the E. B. White Read Aloud Award, and The Important Thing About Margaret Wise Brown. He is the co-author, with Jory John, of the New York Times bestselling series The Terrible Two. Mac lives in California.



Mike Lowery is an illustrator whose work appears in everything from greeting cards to children's books. He is the creator of the Doodle Adventures series and the Everything Awesome About series, and the illustrator of the Gingerbread Man on the Loose and Mac B., Kid Spy series, and more. Find out more at mikelowery.com and on Instagram, @mikelowerystudio. He lives with his wife and two children in Atlanta, Georgia.