Poor Jacob Two-Two! Miss Sour Pickle, Jacob's mean geography teacher, calls on him whenever he daydreams in class, and Mr. I. M. Greedyguts, the new headmaster of Jacob's school, hired Loathsome Leo Louse to prepare monstrous meals that Jacob and his classmates must eat down to the very last bite. Luckily, Mr. Dinglebat, world-renowned spymaster, just moved in next door and has concocted a plan to help Jacob. Packed with colorful characters, secret spy tricks, and lots of fun, Jacob Two-Two's First Spy Case will enthrall and excite children's imaginations. For more Jacob adventures, kids should check out Jacob Two-Two Meets the Hooded Fang and Jacob Two-Two and the Dinosaur, the first two books in this series of three from Commonwealth Book Prize-winning author Mordecai Richler. (Ages 7 to 10)

From School Library Journal
Grade 3-5. The star of this spy story has been featured in Jacob Two-Two Meets the Hooded Fang (1994) and Jacob Two-Two and the Dinosaur (1995, both Random). Here, the eight year old deals with an unpleasant situation at his exclusive private school. When headmaster Mr. Goodbody retires and is replaced by Mr. I. M. Greedyguts, things look bad. When Mrs. Bountiful, the school cook, is replaced by Perfectly Loathsome Leo Louse's catering service, things become decidedly worse. Jacob takes action. With the help of a wonderfully wacky new neighbor and master spy, his supportive family, some spy tricks, and many unusual disguises, the boy defeats the villains and emerges triumphant. Richler's story brings to mind Roald Dahl and Daniel Pinkwater, as characters are drawn with bold and silly strokes, word play abounds, and kids are the heroes. Jacob Two-Two's fans will enjoy spending more time in the boy's world. Humorous black-and-white cartoons help to capture the intrigue. With its simple but satisfying plot and tongue-in-cheek humor, this pleasant read-alone or read-aloud will attract youngsters not quite ready for Dahl but past David Adler's "Cam Jansen" books (Viking).?Jody McCoy, Lakehill Preparatory School, Dallas, TXCopyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

The New York Times Book Review, Jim Gladstone
In his third short novel about Jacob Two-Two, Mr. Richler celebrates the old-fashioned interactive pleasures of childhood 1970's style, featuring card tricks rather than joy sticks, prank phone calls rather than high-speed modems.... Jacob Two-Two's First Spy Case is good silly fun.

From AudioFile
Jacob Two-Two (called such because he repeats everything twice) is in trouble at boarding school. Miss Sour Pickle, his mean geography teacher, constantly picks on him, and the new headmaster, Mr. I. M. Greedyguts, has hired Loathsome Leo Louse to prepare terrible meals, which the students are REQUIRED to eat. Luckily, Mr. Dinglebat, Jacob's neighbor and world-renowned spymaster, has a plan to help. This story is packed with quirky characters and top-secret spy tricks. Performed by a very full cast with lots of sound effects, the performance is nicely anchored by Kyle-John Fuhrman, who does a great job as Jacob, and John Neville, who is very funny as the ultra-British Dinglebat. J.C.G. © AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

From Booklist
Gr. 4^-5. Headmaster Goodbody's tearful retirement signals dismaying changes at Privilege House, Jacob Two-Two's private school. In waddles corpulent I. M. Greedyguts, and soon the school lunches are "tasteless, horrible, or plain disgusting, depending on the day of the week," all supplied from garbage cans by master miser Leo Louse. Fortunately, Jacob's new friend, X. Barnaby Dinglebat, Master Spy, quickly finds evidence that Greedyguts and Louse are on the take, and with the help of Jacob and his classmates, as well as some outrageous but effective disguises, he catches them in the act. Richler takes aim at familiar targets, but the satire never has a mean edge, and the characters are so broadly drawn that it will be hard for readers, including adults, to keep straight faces. Michael Chesworth's monochrome ink-and-wash drawings add appropriately comic touches, and to his nonstop antic plot, the author adds instructions for a clever card trick and a challenging, chapter-long secret message from Dinglebat, printed in reverse. Like its predecessors, most recently (if you call 1987 recent) Jacob Two-Two and the Dinosaur, this is a stitch to read silently but even funnier to read aloud. John Peters

From Kirkus Reviews
Third in a series (Jacob Two-Two and the Dinosaur, o.p., and Jacob Two-Two Meets the Hooded Fang, 1994) about an eight-year-old nicknamed ``Two-Two'' because, as the youngest of five children, he must say everything twice before anyone pays any attention to him. In this adventure Jacob enlists the aid of his new neighbor, X. Barnaby Dinglebat, Master Spy, to foil the gluttonous headmaster I.M. Greedyguts, who has turned over his school's catering contract to the notorious miser Perfectly Loathsome Leo Louse in order to profit from kickbacks. Richler mines the same child-as-underdog- persecuted-by-revolting-and-hypocritical-adults vein that Roald Dahl so richly exploited, without Dahl's felicity of language and gift for fantasy. Instead, grossness and gimmicks (a chapter printed in mirror-writing, a card trick explained in an afterword) will sustain interest. Jacob's role in the plot is confined largely to enduring indignities and following orders, for Mr. Dinglebat, Jacob's father, and a trio of craven cops nail the bad guys. (b&w illustrations, not seen, glossary) (Fiction. 7-10) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Review
??the story combines zippy dialogue, clever magic tricks, and even a chapter in mirror writing?with grossness galore?It will probably be greeted with shrieks of joy.?
?Horn Book

?Jacob Two-Two?s First Spy Case is good silly fun??
?New York Times Book Review

FROM THE PUBLISHER