In Disguise!: Undercover with Real Women Spies

by Ryan Ann Hunter, Jeanette Little (Illustrator)

Investigate real-life adventures of espionage in this collection of impressive and inspiring profiles.

Spanning more than 300 years and numerous countries, In Disguise! details the lives of some of history’s most daring women, all of whom risked their lives to stand up for their beliefs. Originally published a decade ago, this fully updated and expanded edition of In Disguise! profiles twenty-eight daring international secret agents, from Harriet Tubman, who freed hundreds of slaves during the Civil War, to Eva Wu, who hid secret messages in her hair to aid the Chinese Revolution, to the modern-day exploits of former CIA agent Valerie Plame. With riveting narratives, fun quizzes to determine if you have what it takes to go undercover, secret-agent trivia, and short spotlight bios, In Disguise! is sure to engage and inspire.

Genres: Nonfiction, Middle Grade, Espionage

176 pages, Hardcover

First published February 12, 2013

About the author

Ryan Ann Hunter is really two people writing together--Pamela D. Greenwood and Elizabeth G. Macalaster. We met at a writing group in New Jersey, though now we live on either side of the country. Award-winning picture books on technology and transportation led us to discover brave female pilots. In our latest book, we've pulled back the curtain on female spies. We share a common goal that girls not get left behind in exciting and daring opportunities.

Reviews

[Mariama Lei · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book through Goodreads' first reads giveaways.

This is a very interesting informative book about women spies that risked their lives to help their country. Overall I found it very interesting and it was a fast read. This book is aimed for a younger audience (8-12) years old so the text is very easy to read and does not go into complicated details, which is great for younger readers so that they are not overburdened by so much information. Since I am a little older though, I wanted a little more info on each of the spies. I also hoped that they would showcase more spies from another point of view. Like when they featured the American Civil War and showed both the Union and Confederate sides. I wanted to read about the Axis spies in WWII and the Tory spies from the American Revolution. I am sure there are many more spies on the other side of the war as well. Who were the spies that spied on the US during the Cold War? WWI? WWII? Now that would have been interesting. I do like that the Mexican fight for independence and Chinese revolution was included though. I enjoyed the little extra tidbits of info that was included on the sides of the passage. The little quizzes and activities were also nice, especially for younger readers. I enjoyed the illustrations of the spies as well. They were nicely drawn and I could grasp some of the personality of the person who was drawn even before I had read the story on them.

Overall a great read, and now I am even more curious about the women who were featured. Who knew Julia Child invented shark repellant? She is an amazing person!

[Greyson | Use Your Words · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spies! Lady Spies! 

[A · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good variety of stories. Most of these I didn't know, which is shocking because I read way too many books about spies :)

[PoligirlReads · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun read! I particularly liked that there weren't just the same ol' same ol' female spies. There were many that I had never heard of before. I also liked that they were diverse, and covered some time spans/battles that I wasn't familiar with.
One star off for how the civil war section was written. Not sure why there were multiple references to "the blacks." Still can't get over how a woman's family was described as nice because they didn't mistreat their slaves. Umm...they were literally using human beings for unpaid labor against their will. Pretty sure that fits well within the boundaries of "mistreatment." [Insert eyeroll]

Everything else is pretty good, and--giving them context--I think it's a good read about spies for younger readers.

[Cindy Hudson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Throughout history women have played a crucial role in conflicts and wars as spies. Women experienced just as much danger as men, and sometimes they were able to flush out secrets even better than men could, because they were not suspected or were thought to be incapable of understanding the information.

In Disguise! Undercover with Real Women Spies by Ryan Ann Hunter highlights the stories of some of these heroic women and also provides a bit of history about the wars they were part of. Readers will also learn about some of the techniques used in spying over the years and learn how to try a few of them out. For instance, there are instructions on how to make a Cardano Grille and a Skytale Cipher, as well as an activity on being observant. Tidbits labeled “Spy Files” are also interesting, providing such trivia as the fact that fake tiger doo made a good hiding place for messages in the Vietnam War.

Women’s roles in the American Revolution, the Civil War, World Wars I and II as well as the Cold War are highlighted along with a few others. In Disguise! lets both moms and daughters in mother-daughter book clubs with girls aged 9 to 12 learn a little history, celebrate the role that women played in it, and have some fun along the way.

The publisher provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

[Leslie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this book through Goodreads' first reads giveaways.

I really liked this book, fun and interesting to say the least. Real life mystery and adventure. Female empowerment my friends. Check it out.

[Robin Catrett · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received copy through Goodreads firstreads giveaway.
Great book with lots of knowledge about female spies of history!