The Lady Is a Spy: Virginia Hall, World War II Hero of the French Resistance (Scholastic Focus)

by Don Mitchell

Overview

The Lady Is a Spy is the audacious and riveting true story of Virginia Hall, America's greatest spy and unsung hero, brought to vivid life by acclaimed author Don Mitchell.

When Hitler invaded Poland, Virginia Hall was traveling in Europe. Which was dangerous enough, but as fighting erupted, instead of returning home, she headed to France.In a country divided by freedom and fascism, Virginia was determined to do her part for the Allies. An ordinary woman from Baltimore, Maryland, she dove into the action, first joining a French ambulance unit and later becoming an undercover agent for both the British Office of Strategic Services and the US Office of Strategic Services. Working as a spy in the intelligence network, she made her way to Vichy, coordinating Resistance movements, assisting in Nazi sabotage, and rescuing downed Allies. She passed in plain sight of the enemy and soon found herself being hunted by the Gestapo. But Virginia cleverly evaded discovery and death, often through bold feats and escapes. Her covert operations, efforts with the Resistance, and risky work as a wireless telegraph operator greatly contributed to the Allies' eventual win.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780545936125
Publisher:	Scholastic, Inc.
Publication date:	03/26/2019
Pages:	288
Sales rank:	240,578
Product dimensions:	5.60(w) x 8.30(h) x 1.30(d)
Lexile:	1210L (what's this?)
Age Range:	12 - 18 Years

About the Author

Don Mitchell is a critically acclaimed author of nonfiction for young people, including The Lady Is a Spy: Virginia Hall, World War II Hero of the French Resistance and The Freedom Summer Murders, which received multiple starred reviews and was a Kirkus Prize finalist for Young Readers’ Literature, an NAACP Image Award nominee for Outstanding Literary Work for Teens, and a Kirkus Reviews Best Teen Book of the Year; Liftoff: A Photobiography of John Glenn; and Driven: A Photobiography of Henry Ford. He has served on the staff of the US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, as well as on the staff of the National Security Council.

Editorial Reviews

Praise for The Lady Is a Spy"An intriguing, informative glimpseinto the life of a little-known figure that will appeal to fans of feminist heroes." —Booklist"Mitchell pulls readers into Hall's story in a compelling narrative that does not skimp on facts... A well-researched, organized, and compelling nonfiction...." —School Library Journal"The breadth of Hall's missions and her undisputed heroism are on full display here..." —Bulletin for the Center of Children's BooksPraise for The Freedom Summer Murders"A must-read in any young adult study of the civil rights era." —Publishers Weekly (starred review)"Essential." —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)"An eye-opening read..." —Booklist"A timely, essential account, illustrated with contemporary photos and capped with extensive endnotes and source notes." —School Library JournalKirkus Prize finalist in the Young Readers' LiteratureNAACP Image Award nomineeCybils Award finalist

From the Publisher

12/01/2018
Gr 6–9—A detailed, thoroughly researched, and engaging story about Virginia Hall, a much-forgotten but vitally important figure in U.S. and British history. Hall served as a spy, first for the British and then for the Americans, aiding the French Resistance in Nazi-occupied France during World War II. Mitchell pulls readers into Hall's story in a compelling narrative that does not skimp on facts. There is plenty of historical detail given as context, to frame Hall's life as a spy, but also to inform readers about life in occupied France and give a fuller picture of the war. This book includes a thorough bibliography filled with primary and secondary source material, detailed endnotes, and photo credits. The author also included lots of primary source information and quotes from Hall's niece, Lorna Catling. VERDICT A well-researched, organized, and compelling nonfiction read for middle schoolers.—Kristyn Dorfman, The Nightingale-Bamford School, New York City

School Library Journal

2018-10-15

The life and career of a tough, profane, cool-headed secret agent who worked for British and American intelligence in both hot and cold wars.

Mitchell's (The Freedom Summer Murders, 2014, etc.) tedious tally of quick encounters, obscure locales, and vaguely described tasks sucks the juice out of what is plainly a rip-roaring tale. Not the least deterred by blowing off her own foot in a hunting accident (she dubbed her prosthetic limb "Cuthbert"), Maryland-born Hall played such an important role building networks of informants in Vichy France ("I've made some tart friends," she reported, who "know a hell of a lot!"), supplying arms and advice to insurgents, and helping prisoners escape that she was both made a member of the Order of the British Empire and awarded a Distinguished Service Cross by the U.S.—the latter being the only one given to a civilian woman in World War II. Here, though the author does direct nods to many of her intrepid associates, he buries her own exploits in generalities and extraneous minor details plus, for her later years in the CIA, eye-blearing boilerplate from internal personnel reviews. The backmatter offers plenty of documentation, but the small period photos throughout are too often only tangentially relevant to the narrative.

A dry, dreary waste of a grand subject, well below the author's usual standard. (bibliography, endnotes, index, maps) (Biography. 12-15)

Kirkus Reviews