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Hi there. I've an 11 year old who's keenly interested in all things spies. I'll take her soon to the Spy Museum in DC. I'm also looking for a decent non-fiction book about (in)famous spies & spy gear. Fiction books are welcome as well. I'm certain she'd also love a book on codes, ciphers, etc. Do you recommend any age-appropriate movies too? Lastly, what about those spy gear kits I see on Amazon? Any of them good & worth the money? Thanks in advance!

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Codes & Cyphers
Code Cracking for Kids (Daigneau)
Codes, Cyphers, and Secret Writing (Gardner)
The Eleventh Hour (Grahame) -- gr. 4+ -- beautiful picture book with a code or puzzle on each page to solve the mystery

Nonfiction - espionage
DK Eyewitness: Spy (Platt) -- gr. 5-8
DK: Ultimate Spy: Inside the Secret World of Espionage (Melton) -- gr. 4-7

True Tale Collections
The Dark Game: True Spy Stories from Invisible Ink to CIA Moles (Janecko) -- gr. 5-8
The Secret Life of Spies (Noble) -- gr. 4-6; brief snippets on 20 real spies around the world and through history
Usborne True Stories: Spies (Dowswell) -- gr. 5-8 (this book is also collected with 2 others (Heroes; and Survivors) in True Adventure Collection)

Biographies
Behind Rebel Lines (Reit) -- gr. 4-6; Civil War
George Washington's Secret Six (Kilmeade) -- gr. 5-7; American Revolution
For Freedom: The Story of a French Spy (Brubaker Bradley) -- gr. 7-9; WW2 Europe
Navajo Code Talkers (Bruchac) -- WW2 Pacific

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On 8/14/2020 at 1:36 PM, Lori D. said:

 

 

1 hour ago, Lori D. said:

Codes & Cyphers
Code Cracking for Kids (Daigneau)
Codes, Cyphers, and Secret Writing (Gardner)
The Eleventh Hour (Grahame) -- gr. 4+ -- beautiful picture book with a code or puzzle on each page to solve the mystery

Nonfiction - espionage
DK Eyewitness: Spy (Platt) -- gr. 5-8
DK: Ultimate Spy: Inside the Secret World of Espionage (Melton) -- gr. 4-7

True Tale Collections
The Dark Game: True Spy Stories from Invisible Ink to CIA Moles (Janecko) -- gr. 5-8
The Secret Life of Spies (Noble) -- gr. 4-6; brief snippets on 20 real spies around the world and through history
Usborne True Stories: Spies (Dowswell) -- gr. 5-8 (this book is also collected with 2 others (Heroes; and Survivors) in True Adventure Collection)

Biographies
Behind Rebel Lines (Reit) -- gr. 4-6; Civil War
George Washington's Secret Six (Kilmeade) -- gr. 5-7; American Revolution
For Freedom: The Story of a French Spy (Brubaker Bradley) -- gr. 7-9; WW2 Europe
Navajo Code Talkers (Bruchac) -- WW2 Pacific

She's got 'The Eleventh Hour' & loves it! 

Edited by Earthmerlin
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I want to recommend "Turn" (a netflix TV series), but it's really, really not for 11 year olds (high schoolers, sure).   The non-fiction book it was based on is Washington's Spies, which I haven't read, but looking at the preview on Amazon of the first few pages, I'm thinking it might lose an 11 year old's interest, unfortunately.

I was wondering if maybe someone else knew of a book for kids that covered the Revolutionary War spy ring?   Because it is fascinating.  They used ciphers and invisible ink and various secret codes.

This article might be something shorter and more digestible (and maybe the book mentioned might be another one to see if your library has and whether it would work).  https://www.mountvernon.org/george-washington/the-revolutionary-war/spying-and-espionage/spies-dead-drops-and-invisible-ink/

 

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Oh, I forgot...Churchills Secret Agents on Netflix!    It's a reality TV show where people go through the training that agents went through before going behind Nazi occupied lines to gain intelligence, do sabotage, and recruit people for the resistance.    There's one episode (the one about Nazi torture) that would not be appropriate for an 11 year, but the rest should be fine. 

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