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A review by nlgauvreau
True or False: A CIA Analyst's Guide to Spotting Fake News by Cindy L. Otis
4.0
I was provided with an eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.
I'm very torn on this book. It covers information well (and the information it covers in part two is very important for people of all ages and backgrounds to read), but the way it's written is often what I would expect to see in a Middle Grade book (this is being marketed as a YA book), the historical content is in line with it being a YA release, and some of references that are more cultural than historical are things I would expect to fall flat with anyone under 25 or so (but I could be off base on that).
I do see this having a place in a middle school/junior high school library, and would recommend using it as a teaching resource. However for the older end of the YA market, I would still turn more to books like
[b:How Charts Lie: Getting Smarter about Visual Information|43726576|How Charts Lie Getting Smarter about Visual Information|Alberto Cairo|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1563764604l/43726576._SY75_.jpg|68053698] and [b:Fake News: Separating Truth from Fiction|40584981|Fake News Separating Truth from Fiction|Michael Miller|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1542574962l/40584981._SX50_.jpg|63026673].
Tone: 3/5 (talks down a bit too much for a YA book)
Historical information: 5/5
Identifying modern fake news: 5/5
I'm very torn on this book. It covers information well (and the information it covers in part two is very important for people of all ages and backgrounds to read), but the way it's written is often what I would expect to see in a Middle Grade book (this is being marketed as a YA book), the historical content is in line with it being a YA release, and some of references that are more cultural than historical are things I would expect to fall flat with anyone under 25 or so (but I could be off base on that).
I do see this having a place in a middle school/junior high school library, and would recommend using it as a teaching resource. However for the older end of the YA market, I would still turn more to books like
[b:How Charts Lie: Getting Smarter about Visual Information|43726576|How Charts Lie Getting Smarter about Visual Information|Alberto Cairo|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1563764604l/43726576._SY75_.jpg|68053698] and [b:Fake News: Separating Truth from Fiction|40584981|Fake News Separating Truth from Fiction|Michael Miller|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1542574962l/40584981._SX50_.jpg|63026673].
Tone: 3/5 (talks down a bit too much for a YA book)
Historical information: 5/5
Identifying modern fake news: 5/5