Today we are very excited to share an interview with Author Stuart Gibbs (Spy School Blackout)!
Meet the Author: Stuart Gibbs
Stuart Gibbs is the New York Times bestselling author of the Charlie Thorne series, FunJungle series, Moon Base Alpha series, Once Upon a Tim series, and Spy School series. He has written screenplays, worked on a whole bunch of animated films, developed TV shows, been a newspaper columnist, and researched capybaras. Stuart lives with his family in Los Angeles. You can learn more about what he’s up to at StuartGibbs.com.
Website * Facebook * Instagram * X
About the Book: Spy School Blackout
In the thirteenth book in Stuart Gibbs’s New York Times bestselling Spy School series, superspy middle schooler Ben Ripley goes off the grid to eliminate a cybersecurity threat.
After a devious computer hacker pulls off the CIA’s worst-case scenario, shutting down power networks all over the world, Ben and his fellow spies-in-training are forced to make a harrowing emergency landing of their plane in Indonesia. While chaos begins to erupt around the planet, Ben deduces that his team is closer to the mysterious hacker’s base than anyone else. But with all computers and phones down, there’s no way to communicate with anyone at the CIA. On their latest mission to save the world, Ben and his friends face a conniving villain, assassins, pirates, sharks, and very big lizards in the most remote—and deadly—location of any spy school yet!
Amazon * B&N * IndieBound
~Author Chat~
YABC: What gave you the inspiration to write this book?
Two things:
1) After many years of writing this series, I was finally invited to visit the CIA (which was an amazing experience). While there, I talked to many agents, including a few who worked in cybersecurity. My discussions with them led to the idea of someone taking out the power grids all over the world. The idea that someone could take out at least one country’s power grid is a serious concern for the CIA and other government agencies.
2) I went to Indonesia with my children on vacation and found it to be a fascinating setting for a book. We visited historic sites like Prambanan and Borobudur, saw Komodo dragons and orangutans in the wild, and did some of the best snorkeling on earth. Much of what we saw comes into play in Blackout.
YABC: What can readers expect to find in your books?
Action, adventure, mystery, humor… and quite often, charismatic megafauna. (Komodo dragons, the world’s largest lizards, appear in Blackout.)
YABC: If you could time travel what would you want to see?
I would want to go way back and see dinosaurs, assuming there were some safety systems in place to prevent a Jurassic Park or Sound of Thunder situation.
YABC: What daily thing do you see that brings you joy?
I have a dog who is just a great big goofball. Several times a day he will just drop to the floor and roll around on his back and it’s always funny.
YABC: What do you do when you procrastinate?
Puzzles. Word puzzles, mostly. I love any crossword puzzle or crossword variant, and of course I do all the NYTimes puzzles like Spelling Bee and Connections every day.
YABC: What’s a book you’ve recently read and loved?
The Nine Moons of Han Yu and Luli by my dear friend, Karina Yan Glaser. Oh my goodness, this book is amazing, Everyone should read it.
YABC: What is your favorite writing space or routine?
I have an office at the back of my house which is pretty much the only place that I write. I generally walk my dog in the mornings, and then get right to work.
YABC: Is there an organization or cause that is close to your heart?
I am a very big supporter of environmental charities. The Nature Conservancy. The World Wildlife Fund. Gorilla Doctors. The International Rhino Foundation. The Wildlife Conservation Society… The list goes on and on.
Also, I support Girls, Inc, which was a favorite of my late wife. My family maintains a scholarship fund in her name — The Suzanne Patmore Gibbs Scholarship — to help several young women attend college each year.
Title: Spy School Blackout
Author: Stuart Gibbs
Release Date: Oct 7 2025
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Genre: Middle Grade
Age Range: 8-12 yrs/grades 3-7
