The Dark Game

The Dark Game: True Spy Stories
by Paul B. Janeczko
published by Candlewick Press
248 pages

Publisher's description:

Ever since George Washington used them to help topple the British, spies and their networks have helped and hurt America at key moments in history. In this fascinating collection, Paul B. Janeczko probes such stories as that of Elizabeth Van Lew, an aristocrat whose hatred of slavery drove her to be one of the most successful spies in the Civil War; the "Choctaw code talkers," Native Americans who were instrumental in sending secret messages during World War I; the staggering engineering behind a Cold War tunnel into East Berlin to tap Soviet phones (only to be compromised by a Soviet mole); and many more famous and less-known examples. Colorful personalities, daring missions, the feats of the loyal, and the damage of traitors are interspersed with a look at the technological advances that continue to change the rules of gathering intelligence. From clothesline codes to surveillance satellites and cyber espionage, Paul B. Janeczko uncovers two centuries’ worth of true spy stories in U.S. history.

My comments:

This book has not been on the shelf since it arrived at the library. I think the design and topic of the book have everything to do with this. In a departure from the typical coffee table book design of many nonfiction titles published for young adults, its sized and shaped like a novel. The jacket design plays on the sexy-dangerous appeal of spies. The novel-ish design continues inside, where text dominates the pages.

Six chapters cover the American Revolution, the Civil War, World War I, World War II, the Cold War and domestic moles. The chapters are further divided into two main sections separated by two smaller "special" sections. A black and white cross-hair* motif decorates the the chapter headings and the special sections. There are quite a few images interspersed throughout the text including portraits of famous spies, intercepted messages and even a diagram of a listening device used to bug an ambassador's house in Moscow.

The writing overall is strong, but some sections are stronger than others. In Chapter 3, I was amazed by the section "Sabotage on U.S. Soil." There were details about World War I here that I had never read about before, like the blasts at Black Tom Island. The World War II story of double agent Juan Pujol (in Chapter 4) was similarly amazing. It was great to read about female spies like Mata Hari (was she a double agent?), Elizabeth Van Lew and Rose O'Neale Greenhow. The story of the Berlin Tunnel in chapter five is also fascinating. During the section on the Culper Spy Ring in the Chapter 1, however, I became a little frustrated that Janeczko focused more on speculation about spies' personal relationships than what they actually did to help win the revolution. The section on the Zimmerman Telegram in Chapter 3 also lost me a little.

One of my pet peeves with nonfiction are simple errors that render the factual infromation inaccurate or confusing. I found one such mistake in Chapter 5 that could have been easily fixed. It appears on page 180 in a paragraph about the effects of high altitude flight on the human body, and the special suits that were designed to protect U-2 pilots from drops in air pressure. Low pressure can cause the human body to expand, which is potentially fatal. The paragraph does a good job of explaining how inflatable tubes inside the pilot's suit would expand to protect the pilot if the pressure dropped; except for the first sentence. In the first sentence, instead of "low pressure" it says "high pressure." Maybe the sentence originally said "high altitude", which would also have been correct. This is an unfortunate mistake in an overall very enlightening and engaging book. Hopefully it will be fixed for a paperback edition.

While it is a fast and easy read, the book seems to assume that anyone venturing to the pages beyond the final chapter knows what they're doing. Back end materials include source notes, photography credits, a comprehensive index and a bibliography. The sources listed in the notes can all be found in the bibliography, which includes a blend of older and newer titles.

Official YALSA Award Finalist

*definitely not a surveying symbol

Spies of Mississippi

Spies of Mississippi: The True Story of the Spy Network that Tried to Destory the Civil Rights Movement
by Rick Bowers
published by National Geographic
128 pages

Publisher's Description:

The Spies of Mississippi is a compelling story of how state spies tried to block voting rights for African Americans during the Civil Rights era. This book sheds new light on one of the most momentous periods in American history. Author Rick Bowers has combed through primary-source materials and interviewed surviving activists named in once-secret files, as well as the writings and oral histories of Mississippi civil rights leaders. Readers get first-hand accounts of how neighbors spied on neighbors, teachers spied on students, ministers spied on church-goers, and spies even spied on spies. The Spies of Mississippi will inspire readers with the stories of the brave citizens who overcame the forces of white supremacy to usher in a new era of hope and freedom—an age that has recently culminated in the election of Barack Obama.

My Comments:

Bowers has written a very interesting, matter-of-fact expose of the secret commission that was formed to prevent integration from coming to Mississippi. I was shocked to learn how government agents conspired to persecute, imprison, and even murder NAACP organizers and volunteers. I was already aware of the murders of Medgar Evers and the three volunteers who came to Mississippi during the Freedom Summer of 1964 to register voters, but only from movies (Ghosts of Mississippi and Mississippi Burning) so it was enlightening to read the facts without any filtering from Hollywood. The movies are old enough that young readers may never have heard of these men.

I had never heard the stories of Aaron Henry, who was elected president of the Mississippi branch of the NAACP and then punished by being tied to a garbage truck; or of Clyde Kennard, who after repeatedly applying to the all-white Mississippi Southern College (Ole Miss) was arrested and put in a maximum security prison on phony burglary charges. Now I wonder whether these compelling civil rights figures will ever get their due on screen.

The copy of Spies of Mississippi that I got a hold of is an uncorrected proof, so I tried to ignore things like misspellings and bad punctuation. Hopefully, these have all been fixed in the final version of the book. The illustrations, photographs, index, and bibliography were all absent, as well. I think that these elements are critical with nonfiction, so I was happy to stumble upon the National Geographic booth at PLA last Thursday, and find a copy of the finished book on display.

There are some relevant historical documents included at the end of the book, like copies of checks made out to prominent African Americans who spied on the NAACP, as well as a section of color photographs in the middle. I only wish that the illustrations were integrated a little more smoothly into the overall design. The design of this book is a little more "adult," for lack of a better word, which I think will appeal to many teens who don't want to look like they are reading a picture book. For readers like me, who love the slick paper and big colorful photos of National Geographic magazine, the design may not be as appealing. I realize that this is largely a matter of personal preference.

The bibliography at the end is extensive, but the tiny text and lack of contextual information (for instance, there is no organization of sources under headings like "for more information about...") make it not so user friendly, so I was a little disappointed with it. I also wish there had been some sidebars to explain some of the things that weren't detailed in the main text, like how Agents X, Y, and Zero got their names and who they might have been. Maybe the answers to these questions are not known, but they are worth asking.

* This is an official nomination for the YALSA Nonfiction award, which will be announced in January.*

Those are my thoughts. What are yours?