OUT OF SIGHT, OUT OF TIME Lily Gulledge Block 2B

OUT OF SIGHT, OUT OF TIME Written by Ally Carter Report by Lily Gulledge Published by Disney-Hyperion in 2012

INTRODUCTION The novel is set at the Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women, a girls’ boarding school outside of Roseville, Virginia. The school trains its students to become spies. In the previous installment of the series, the main character, Cammie, ran away from the school. She now returns, having lost her memory of the summer and fall she spent away from the school. During Out of Sight, Out of Time, she attempts to recover her memories while dealing with severe head trauma and abandonment by her friends and family at the school, who feel betrayed by her leaving.

PROTAGONIST The protagonist of the book is Cammie Morgan, a senior at Gallagher Academy. She is known as “The Chameleon” due to her success as a pavement artist. Her mom, Rachel Morgan, is the headmistress at Gallagher, and her dad was declared missing in action on a mission six years earlier. I chose Bridgett Mendler to play Cammie.

ANTAGONIST The antagonist of Carter’s novel is not a character, but an organization. The Circle of Cavan is a terrorist group that, throughout the story, thwarts Cammie’s attempts to regain her memories. They are led by Catherine Goode, a traitorous alumnus of the Gallagher Academy and the mother of Cammie’s boyfriend. The Circle has seen Gallagher girls as great nemeses since the foundation of the Gallagher Academy; their founders were large rivals. Speculation arises from the beginning of the book that the Circle of Cavan tortured Cammie after she ran away. This is how I imagine Catherine, the leader of the Circle of Cavan.

CONFLICT Cammie’s main goal is to recover the memories she lost over the summer. She wants to find out whether or not she was tortured by the Circle, what happened to her father on his final mission, and how the conclusion to her summer came to be. To do this, she travels with other spies to Rome, the last place she can remember visiting. The Circle of Cavan, however, is dead-set on keeping her memories forgotten, and they confront her in many, often violent situations.

MINOR CHARACTERS: STUDENTS Macey McHenry Bex Baxter Liz Sutton Macey, Bex, and Liz (top) are Cammie’s roommates and best friends. They aid her in her quest to remember. Zach (left) is Cammie’s boyfriend and Gallagher’s only male student. He also helps her find answers about the summer. Zach Goode

MINOR CHARACTERS: ADULTS Rachel Morgan, Cammie’s mom and headmistress, is a retired CIA operative. Cammie always tries to impress her mother, and Rachel always tries to protect Cammie. Abby Cameron is Rachel’s younger sister. She is a carefree aunt, talented spy, and role model. She goes to Rome with Cammie to recover her memories. Edward Townsend is an agent from MI6 who takes on the position of CoveOps teacher at Gallagher. While the students dislike his teaching, he proves to be helpful on their mission to Rome.

REVIEWS 1. The first reviewer gave the book five stars, appreciating the darker element brought to the plot by Cammie’s memory loss. S/He also complimented the character development and references to past events. The critic commented lastly on the expression of all characters’ emotions, preferring it over a possible story centrally focused on Cammie and her emotions. &ASIN= &linkCode=&nodeID=&tag= &ASIN= &linkCode=&nodeID=&tag 2. VOYA gave the novel 4.45 stars. Their review was highly complementary, calling the book perfect. They also said that readers would come out of the story regretless.

MY OPINION I thought the book was flawless. Ally Carter captures the mind of a teenage girl perfectly, and she has a unique writing style that offers light humor to diffuse the darkest of situations. There are scenes from the very beginning of the series, scenes that did not appear to contain foreshadowing or be important at all, that come back to the center of the plot. She seamlessly weaves together past and present, dark and light, and the average and the extraordinary girl to create a riveting and complex young adult novel. The dramatic and situational irony build up great suspense, both along the main plot and along smaller side-plots that, while not necessarily relevant to the book’s progression, are just as entertaining to the reader.