Secret Agent Heroes Read online

  Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  CHAPTER 1

  Secret Agents

  CHAPTER 2

  Secret Plan

  CHAPTER 3

  Mission Beat

  CHAPTER 4

  New Mission

  CHAPTER 5

  Spy Game for Real

  EXTRA STUFF

  • Secret Agent Lingo

  • Secret Agent Must-dos

  • Secret Agent Instant Info

  • Think Tank

  • Hi Guys! (Author Letter)

  • When We Were Kids

  • What a Laugh!

  Secret Agent

  Heroes

  Felice Arena and Phil Kettle

  illustrated by

  Mitch Vane

  MACMILLAN

  First published 2003 by

  MACMILLAN EDUCATION AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

  15–19 Claremont Street, South Yarra 3141

  Reprinted 2004, 2005, 2006 (twice), 2007, 2008

  Visit our website at www.macmillan.com.au or

  go directly to www.macmillanlibrary.com.au

  Associated companies and representatives throughout the world.

  Copyright © Felice Arena and Phil Kettle 2003

  All rights reserved.

  Except under the conditions described in the Copyright Act 1968 of Australia and subsequent amendments, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner.

  National Library of Australia

  Cataloguing-in-Publication data

  Arena, Felice.

  Secret agent heroes.

  For primary school children.

  ISBN 978 07329 8964 4.

  ISBN 978 0 7329 9179 1 (Set 2).

  ISBN 0 7329 8964 7.

  ISBN 0 7329 9179 X (Set 2).

  1. Spies – Juvenile literature. I. Kettle, Phil.

  II. Title. (Series: Arena, Felice. Boyz rule).

  A823.3

  Project management by Limelight Press Pty Ltd

  Cover and text design by Lore Foye

  Illustrations by Mitch Vane

  Printed in Hong Kong

  These electronic editions published 2010 by

  Macmillan Education Australia Pty Ltd

  Level 1, 15 -19 Claremont Street, South Yarra 3141

  All rights reserved. This publication (or any part of it) may not be reproduced or transmitted, copied, stored, distributed or otherwise made available by any person or entity (including Google, Amazon or similar organisations), in any form (electronic, digital, optical, mechanical) or by any means (photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise) without prior written permission from the publisher.

  Boyz Rule! Secret Agent Heroes

  Felice Arena & Phil Kettle

  Adobe eReader ISBN

  9781458610577

  EPub ISBN

  9781458610584

  Mobipocket ISBN

  9781458610591

  On-line ISBN

  9781458610560

  Macmillan Digital Australia

  www.macmillandigital.com.au

  Visit www.macmillan.com.au/primary to read more about all our books and to buy both print and ebooks online. You will also find subject catalogues, teacher support material and news of professional development events.

  CHAPTER 1

  Secret Agents

  Best friends Matt and Nick are busy trying out Matt’s birthday present—walkie-talkies. Positioned at separate ends of Matt’s house, the boys test out the high-tech equipment.

  Matt “Come in, Nick. Can you hear me? Over and out.”

  Nick “Loud and clear big buddy. This is secret agent Red Bear. That’s affirmative.”

  Matt “Cool. I mean, copy that, Red Bear. Secret agent Blue Fox here. Anything suspicious happening your end?”

  Nick “No. Just your dog, I mean … a sneaky-looking canine figure eating grass. Nothing else to report. Over.”

  Matt “Copy that. Meet you at Headquarters … no, hold on. Have spotted something. I’ve caught sight of an older female and her boyfriend.”

  Nick “You mean your sister.”

  Matt “Yes, older teenage female.”

  Nick “What are they doing? Over.”

  Matt “They’re snogging—gross! OTF doesn’t realise that she’s kissing the enemy—number one enemy agent, Zit Face.”

  Nick “So, what are we going to do Blue Fox?”

  Matt “I have a plan, a mission to break them up. Meet me at Headquarters.”

  Nick “Affirmative. Um … Blue Fox?”

  Matt “Yes, Red Bear?”

  Nick “Where’s Headquarters?”

  Matt “Inside, in the kitchen.”

  Nick “Okay. See you there in 0-17 seconds. Over.”

  CHAPTER 2

  Secret Plan

  Moments later Matt and Nick meet at Headquarters. They decide to have something to drink and eat before discussing their mission.

  Nick “So what’s the plan Matt … I mean Blue Fox.”

  Matt “It’ll be extremely dangerous, the toughest mission we’ll ever have to face, Red Bear.”

  Nick “Cool. I mean, totally copy that, sir.”

  Matt “You don’t have to say ‘totally copy that’ when you’re standing right next to me.”

  Nick “Copy that. I mean, okay?”

  Matt “Right, listen up. The mission is to separate number one enemy agent, Zit Face, from the gross lip lock he has on my sister.”

  Nick “How?”

  Matt “Well I’m thinking we’ll go in there and give him no time to think. Ambush him with water bombs. Follow me.”

  Matt rushes upstairs to his bedroom with Nick only a few steps behind. He rummages through his cupboard and drawers until he discovers a couple of unused balloons.

  Matt “We’ll fill these up with water.”

  Nick “That’s so cool.”

  Matt “Don’t get too excited. He’s one tough agent, that Zit Face. If he spots us before we throw them, we’re dead! Are you sure you’re up for this, agent Red Bear?”

  Nick “Bring it on!”

  Matt and Nick rush back down to the kitchen to fill the balloons with water.

  Matt “You stay here and I’ll sneak around to the other side of the house and stop at the back corner just before the backyard. So you just wait for my command … on the walkie-talkies.”

  Nick “Copy that, Blue Fox. I mean, okay.”

  CHAPTER 3

  Mission Beat

  Matt and Nick split up with their water-filled balloons in hand. Nick stays put and Matt tiptoes around the other side of the house towards Zit Face and Matt’s sister, as planned.

  Matt (whispering) “Red Bear, I’ve made it to the back corner of the house. I’ll take a peek and check the status of enemy agent Zit Face. Over. Red Bear? Red Bear? Come in agent Red Bear? You’re allowed to say ‘copy that’. Red Bear?”

  Matt shoves his walkie-talkie back in his pocket, annoyed that Nick hasn’t responded and decides to go on with the mission without him. Matt slowly leans forward to catch a glimpse of his sister and Zit Face, only to discover they are nowhere to be seen. Matt is suddenly suspicious—he reaches for his walkie-talkie again.

  Matt “Red Bear, come in Red Bear. I think you could be in danger. Say something if you can. Red Bear?”

  Nick “Blue Fox! Abort mission! Abort! Abort! Get out of there!”

  Matt “What? You’re breaking up Red Bear. What did you say? Over.”

  Nick “Get out of there! Zit Face saw me. He caught me before I could …”
<
br />   Matt looks up in horror to see that his sister and Zit Face are only centimetres away—and they have Nick’s water-filled balloon. They toss the balloon directly into Matt’s face, causing him to fumble and drop his own balloon. Zit Face and Matt’s sister roar laughing as they head back indoors. Matt shakes his head, totally soaked and embarrassed.

  CHAPTER 4

  New Mission

  Matt and Nick regroup back at Headquarters.

  Nick “Before I knew it, they’d jumped me. I tried to warn you.”

  Matt “Yeah, well it was too late.”

  Matt dries himself off with a towel.

  Nick “So, what’s our next mission?”

  Matt “I’m not sure you’re up to being a secret agent.”

  Nick “Why? Just because I got caught by Zit Face? That’s not fair. You’ve got to give me another chance.”

  Matt “Okay, one more, but if you mess up next time, I’ll take your agent badge from you.”

  Nick “I don’t have a badge.”

  Matt “You know what I mean.”

  Nick “Cool. So what’s our next mission Blue Fox?”

  Matt “I need to get something very important from my neighbour’s yard.”

  Nick “Really? Cool. Is it a secret document … or a special spy gadget … like a watch that gives the exact directions of where you are in the world and acts as a mini X-ray that can see through walls. Or is it some amazing clue?”

  Matt “No, it’s my football.”

  Nick “Oh.”

  Matt “I kicked it over into their yard last night. You stay here and look after Headquarters. This is just a mini mission. I can do this one on my own.”

  Matt leaves Nick and heads over to his neighbour’s house. He knocks on the door but there’s no answer. He decides to continue on into their backyard, only to discover someone breaking through the back window. Matt quickly ducks behind some nearby rubbish bins, and pulls out his walkie-talkie.

  Matt (whispering) “Red Bear? Red bear? Come in Red Bear? Nick? This is serious.”

  CHAPTER 5

  Spy Game for Real

  Matt “Nick? Where are you?”

  Nick “Sorry Blue Fox. I was caught up with my own mission.”

  Matt “What?”

  Nick “I call it Mission-Eat-Your-Mum’s-Chocolate-Cake! What’s up? Over.”

  Matt “There’s a burglar breaking into my neighbour’s house.”

  Nick “That’s cool. What’s this secret agent’s name? Agent Mask Man?”

  Matt “Nick, I’m not joking. This is for real. A guy’s just broken in. Call the police.”

  Nick “Copy that big buddy! Your mum’s a really good cook you know.”

  Matt “Nick! Call the police or get my mum and tell her.”

  Nick “Roger, Blue Fox.”

  Matt waits quietly behind his neighbour’s rubbish bins. He peeks over the top of them and sees the burglar now coming out the back door with a television set in his hands.

  Matt (whispering) “Red Bear? Have you called the police? Nick? Come in Red Bear? He’s stealing the TV!”

  Nick “Where are you Blue Fox? Over.”

  Matt “I’m hiding behind some rubbish bins in the backyard. Have you called the police?”

  Matt suddenly hears the sound of heavy steps walking towards him.

  Matt “Nick? Quick! Get help! I think the burglar’s heard me. He’s coming to get me. I think I’d better run for it.”

  Matt suddenly looks up to see Nick and a policeman standing over him.

  Nick “There you are! This is Officer Handley, Matt. His partner caught the burglar and has just locked him in the back of the police van—it was so cool. You’re a hero, secret agent Blue Fox!”

  Matt “Yeah? I reckon we’re both secret agent heroes!”

  Secret Agent

  Lingo

  affirmative A very long word used by secret agents with a very short meaning—yes!

  James Bond Known as agent 007, he’s the best secret agent in the world.

  secret Information that you find out and don’t tell anyone about. But sometimes you can tell your best friend!

  spy A person who spies on another person and gathers top secrets.

  sunglasses What all secret agents wear to disguise themselves.

  Secret Agent

  Must-dos

  When you’re a secret agent, always wear sunglasses. You don’t want anybody to recognise you.

  Always carry your walkie-talkie with you. You never know when the spy agency will want you to work.

  At all times carry a notepad with you. Making notes is important.

  Use your tree house as your spy headquarters.

  A secret agent’s camera is really small. You should have one to take photos of kids you think might be spies.

  Girls mostly work for the bad secret spy agencies. Boys are usually from good spy agencies.

  When discussing spy secrets, you need to use a secret code. Make sure you close the curtains in your tree house when you’re doing this.

  Never tell girls a secret. They find it really hard to keep secrets.

  Make sure you have a really good spy name when you become a spy.

  Secret Agent

  Instant Info

  When spies decode, they work out what a coded message means.

  Spies often work undercover in disguise so they can’t be recognised.

  Ian Fleming wrote the first James Bond novel, “Casino Royale”, in 1953.

  The most valuable item ever stolen was Leonardo da Vinci’s painting of “The Mona Lisa” in 1911.

  A bug is a tiny hidden listening device.

  The CIA is one of the largest spy agencies in the world. It stands for Central Intelligence Agency.

  One of the most famous (and funny) television shows about secret agents was called “Get Smart”. It was made in the 1960s and is still screened today.

  Think Tank

  1 Who is agent 007?

  2 What is decoding?

  3 What is a spy?

  4 Where do spies live?

  5 When do secret agents spy?

  6 Are secret agents good at keeping secrets?

  7 Where do you think secret agents keep their secrets?

  8 Do you think that you would be a good secret agent?

  Answers

  1 James Bond is agent 007.

  2 Decoding is where you work out what a coded message means.

  3 A spy is somebody who finds out some person’s secret.

  4 Spies live in a house.

  5 Secret agents spy all the time … so watch out!

  6 Yes, if they can’t keep secrets they shouldn’t be secret agents.

  7 Secret agents keep their secrets in a safe.

  8 Yes, the best agent in the world!

  How did you score?

  • If you got all 8 answers correct, then you should join the secret service.

  • If you got 6 answers correct, then maybe you should take a few more lessons.

  • If you got only 4 answers correct, then make sure your best friend doesn’t tell you any secrets—you might not be able to keep them!

  Hi Guys!

  We have heaps of fun reading and want you to, too. We both believe that being a good reader is really important and so cool.

  Try out our suggestions to help you have fun as you read.

  At school, why don’t you use “Secret Agent Heroes” as a play and you and your friends can be the actors. Set the scene for your play. Find some props and use your imagination to pretend that you are a secret agent. Maybe you could wear sunglasses.

  So … have you decided who is going to be Matt and who is going to be Nick? Now, with your friends, read and act out our story in front of the class.

  We have a lot of fun when we go to schools and read our stories. After we finish the kids all clap really loudly. When you’ve finished your play your classmates will do the same. Just remember to look out the window—there might be a talent scout f
rom a television station watching you!

  Reading at home is really important and a lot of fun as well.

  Take our books home and get someone in your family to read them with you. Maybe they can take on a part in the story.

  Remember, reading is a whole lot of fun.

  So, as the frog in the local pond would say, Read-it!

  And remember, Boyz Rule!

  When

  We Were Kids

  Phil “What was your greatest weapon when you were a secret agent kid?”

  Felice “My ability to speak one hundred different languages.”

  Phil “That’s a bit ambitious—you can’t even speak English properly!”