James Bond would cringe at these cleverly reconstructed espionage failures; kids will eat them up.
Holdcroft presents 20 bungled spy plots in high-mirth graphic format.
Spies have been botching their plots since they first started plotting, and Holdcroft has unearthed a number of documented snafus from ancient India, the Persian Empire and Old Cathay, as well as a number of more modern flubs. She has organized the book into five thematic chapters—bad luck, miscommunication, incompetence, overconfidence and betrayal—and most of the episodes lend themselves to her style. This is to paint the principals in both word and image (many of the spies appear to share a family resemblance to Boris and Natasha of the old Rocky & Bullwinkle cartoon) as broadly humorous schemers and, ultimately, fumblers. But she also chocks the stories full of background information to put the spying act in context—the book is, to put it mildly, voluble—and she knows when to throttle back on the yuks when the bite of the act still carries a sting, these being the tragic bombing of the Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior and the perfidies of Aldrich Ames. Still, there is plenty of room for comedy, from the industrial sabotage behind cochineal red to the bugging device surgically implanted in a cat (the cost of Project Acoustic Kitty to the American taxpayer: $15 million; the cat was run over by a taxi) to the botched recovery of a Soviet submarine (cost to American taxpayer: $500 million).
James Bond would cringe at these cleverly reconstructed espionage failures; kids will eat them up. (bibliography) (Graphic nonfiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-55451-223-2
Page Count: 110
Publisher: Annick Press
Review Posted Online: Sept. 13, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Deftly written and informative; a call for vigilance and equality.
An examination of the history of Chinese American experiences.
Blackburn opens with a note to readers about growing up feeling invisible as a multicultural, biracial Chinese American. She notes the tremendous diversity of Chinese American history and writes that this book is a starting point for learning more. The evenly paced narrative starts with the earliest recorded arrival of the Chinese in America in 1834. A teenage girl, whose real name is unknown, arrived in New York Harbor with the Carnes brothers, merchants who imported Chinese goods and put her on display “like an animal in a circus.” The author then examines shifting laws, U.S. and global political and economic climates, and changing societal attitudes. The book introduces the highlighted people—including Yee Ah Tye, Wong Kim Ark, Mabel Ping-Hua Lee, and Vincent Chen—in relation to lawsuits or other transformative events; they also stand as examples for explaining concepts such as racial hierarchy and the model minority myth. Maps, photos, and documents are interspersed throughout. Chapters close with questions that encourage readers to think critically about systems of oppression, actively engage with the material, and draw connections to their own lives. Although the book covers a wide span of history, from the Gold Rush to the rise in anti-Asian hate during the Covid-19 pandemic, it thoroughly explains the various events. Blackburn doesn’t shy away from describing terrible setbacks, but she balances them with examples of solidarity and progress.
Deftly written and informative; a call for vigilance and equality. (resources, bibliography, image credits) (Nonfiction. 10-14)Pub Date: March 26, 2024
ISBN: 9780593567630
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2024
If Freedman wrote the history textbooks, we would have many more historians. Beginning with an engrossing description of the Boston Tea Party in 1773, he brings the reader the lives of the American colonists and the events leading up to the break with England. The narrative approach to history reads like a good story, yet Freedman tucks in the data that give depth to it. The inclusion of all the people who lived during those times and the roles they played, whether small or large are acknowledged with dignity. The story moves backwards from the Boston Tea Party to the beginning of the European settlement of what they called the New World, and then proceeds chronologically to the signing of the Declaration. “Your Rights and Mine” traces the influence of the document from its inception to the present ending with Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s. The full text of the Declaration and a reproduction of the original are included. A chronology of events and an index are helpful to the young researcher. Another interesting feature is “Visiting the Declaration of Independence.” It contains a short review of what happened to the document in the years after it was written, a useful Web site, and a description of how it is displayed and protected today at the National Archives building in Washington, D.C. Illustrations from the period add interest and detail. An excellent addition to the American history collection and an engrossing read. (Nonfiction. 9-13)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-8234-1448-5
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2000
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