True Stories

 

The Dark Game: True Spy Stories – Paul Janeczko

A collection of true spy stories from throughout the history of the United States, discussing personalities, missions, traitors, technological advances, and more.

They Called Themselves the KKK – Susan Campbell Bartoletti

Documents the history and origin of the Ku Klux Klan from its beginning in Pulaski, Tennessee, and provides personal accounts, congressional documents, diaries, and more.

Nonfiction is sometimes difficult to recommend to young adult readers.  In my experience, they want a story - and these two books provide a great story.  The Dark Game is a collection of stories about the "Spy" industry in the United States.  Each section of the book is a new story, and Janeczko presents so many different types of spy stories that the reader is never bored.  I read this book section by section, whenever I had a few moments of free time. 

I knew when I started this project that one of the books that I wanted to read was They Called Themselves the KKK by Susan Campbell Bartoletti.  I have read several of her books, both fiction and nonfiction, and I am intrigued with how she is able to put such difficult stories into readable, interesting books.  While the KKK is certainly not an easy topic, Bartoletti presents the facts about how the group began in such a way that made me examine my own personal thoughts.  

These two books would be great for kids who are interested in history, or for a teacher to use in conjunction with U.S. History lessons.