Gr 6 Up—With entertaining background stories and unbelievable facts, Sheinkin's latest engrossing narrative covers
the U.S. and Soviet arms race up through the Cuban Missile Crisis. This is a nonfiction history lesson disguised as a
gripping spy thriller that readers won't be able to put down.

Another great nonfiction book for young readers. Sheinkin delivers a fast paced account of the Cold War that culminates in the Cuban Missile Crisis. As always he engages young readers with a compelling read. Highly recommended! ( )

I'm a middle school librarian, and I read this book because it's a 2023-2024 Rebecca Caudill Nominee.

Two Sentence Summary: Spies, hydrogen bombs, the race to space, and the looming threat of nuclear war. The Cold War was a frightening time for the world, and much of what went on wasn't brought to light until years later.

Steve Sheinkin. This man works magic. He has helped my non-history buff reader heart fall in love with reading historical nonfiction. At least, the historical nonfiction he writes. This is the second book by him I've read (the first being Bomb), and I keep coming back for more. His books read similar to a novel, but the frequent jumps between different events keeps it from fully feeling like a normal fiction novel. Though it's never confusing because of it. The way he connects all the events keeps you in suspense. I often wondered how I didn't know how the "story" ended even though it's a real time in history that I learned about in school. He clearly does his research and knows how to craft his writing so it's easy to read and understand. The target audience is middle school, but I believe that even teens and adults will enjoy it.

LibraryThing* Rating: 5 Stars

Book Lady** Rating: 5 Stars

I liked…
- the way he brought the Cold War events together in an understandable and interesting way
- the included pictures
- how it kept my attention the whole time

I disliked…
NOTHING! Honestly.

Content: Middle School and up - it's talking about the serious topic of nuclear war, which can be frightening for younger children

Recommended for middle schoolers (and up) who like historical nonfiction or at least like an "edge of your seat" story who are open to reading nonfiction.

*LibraryThing rating takes into consideration the intended audience’s comprehension and interests.
**Book Lady Rating is what I would give it if I based it on my personal preference and likes/dislikes ( )

Well researched and very readable with short chapters. This book details the early days of the Cold War looking at events like the Bay of Pigs, Cuban Missile Crisis, spy exchanges, the space race, U2 flights, and the development of nuclear weapons. Each section starts with a spread of polaroid images of key players in that chapter with the main focus on Soviet and Americans. ( )

I really enjoyed listening to this book. I've read a lot of spy books, and they can be overwhelming with lots of names. Sheinkin does a great job narrowing the story.

The cold war was part of my childhood, so I'm not sure how interested kids are currently with this time period. This book starts before the cold war; it starts with WWII and the A-bomb. He talks about how the bomb came about. I didn't know the H-Bomb was a different bomb! Learning about the scientists was so interesting, especially the scientist who couldn't let his brain rest. In fact, he needed problems to solve all the time or he didn't know what to do.

The various spies envelop one part of the book. You meet the spies from Russia who tried to get information from people while living in America under assumed names. I was surprised by one of the "helper" spies who was totally useless. One would think a spy would be very motivated, but this guy certainly wasn't.

The third part deal with the showdown between the the United States and Russia concerning nuclear bombs on Cuban soil--the Bay of Pigs. I'm amazed and stunned that a bomb didn't go off. There were so many instances and people who wanted to launch a bomb, yet there was always someone there who could stop it in order to get more information, which proved to be the best decision.

I know I haven't made the book sound terribly interesting, but it was! I thoroughly enjoyed learning about this time in history. Once again, it's a focused area of history, so the reader does not get overhwlemed. It's well-worth your time. Great book! ( )