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

“I suppose a lot of teenage girls feel invisible sometimes, like they just disappear. Well, that's me--Cammie the Chameleon. But I'm luckier than most because, at my school, that's considered cool.”

This passage is the opening lines of the book, and it sets up the introduction to the story, as well as how the book is meant as an operations report for events during the previous semester at Cammie’s school. These lines also show Cammie’s informative but quirky narrative style, which tells the reader what to expect in terms of the story’s tone. Throughout the book, Cammie feels invisible at points, and while she sometimes views this as a bad thing, her introductory lines tell the reader that, underneath her complicated emotions, Cammie likes being the “chameleon” and is proud of her spy skillset.

“Then, as if to prove my point, a loud blast and the smell of burning hair came floating up the main stairs from the second-floor Hall of History, followed by Professor Buckingham's distinguished voice crying, ‘Girls! I told you not to touch that!’”

As students return to school, Cammie hears this commotion elsewhere in the building from her dorm room, and her telling of the events shows the atmosphere of the Gallagher Academy. Though it’s a school for genius girls to become spies, there is a humorous undertone, as shown through Cammie’s description of how the newbies are likely running around on fire.