This is the second book in the "Top Secret Files" series that I've been fortunate enough to read and review. Dedicated to "The Cold War" a concept which author Stephanie Bearce is successfully able to convey to young readers who did not have to live through it the book contains short stories describing spies for the West and for the East (and sometimes for both) and tales of unusual missions in the 1950s through 1970s. The book also contains a few crafts to help bring the stories to life for younger readers.
Ms Bearce successfully paints a picture with words that are age-appropriate to her audience, but are also engaging to the occasional adult reader. I was familiar with some of the stories described in this book mostly those of a biographical nature involving famed spies who were caught but found many others new to me, especially ones about missions.
What I cannot successfully evaluate is whether the book truly conveys the sensation of "two worlds" that existed during the Cold War the book successfully takes me back to my younger days (remember "duck and cover"?) but am not sure if today's youth will truly get that sensation after reading it. Perhaps the Cuban Missile Crisis could been included among the stories it would have made a good yin/yang with the stories that are told about the Berlin Wall.
Recommended.
RATING: 4 stars.
Ms Bearce successfully paints a picture with words that are age-appropriate to her audience, but are also engaging to the occasional adult reader. I was familiar with some of the stories described in this book mostly those of a biographical nature involving famed spies who were caught but found many others new to me, especially ones about missions.
What I cannot successfully evaluate is whether the book truly conveys the sensation of "two worlds" that existed during the Cold War the book successfully takes me back to my younger days (remember "duck and cover"?) but am not sure if today's youth will truly get that sensation after reading it. Perhaps the Cuban Missile Crisis could been included among the stories it would have made a good yin/yang with the stories that are told about the Berlin Wall.
Recommended.
RATING: 4 stars.
