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True or False: A CIA Analyst's Guide to Spotting Fake News by [Cindy L. Otis]

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Cindy L. Otis

True or False: A CIA Analyst's Guide to Spotting Fake News Kindle Edition

by Cindy L. Otis (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

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"If I could pick one book to hand to every teen—and adult—on earth, this is the one. True or False is accessible, thorough, and searingly honest, and we desperately needed it." —Becky Albertalli, author of Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda

A former CIA analyst unveils the true history of fake news and gives readers tips on how to avoid falling victim to it in this highly designed informative YA nonfiction title.

"Fake news" is a term you’ve probably heard a lot in the last few years, but it’s not a new phenomenon. From the ancient Egyptians to the French Revolution to Jack the Ripper and the founding fathers, fake news has been around as long as human civilization. But that doesn’t mean that we should just give up on the idea of finding the truth.

In True or False, former CIA analyst Cindy Otis will take readers through the history and impact of misinformation over the centuries, sharing stories from the past and insights that readers today can gain from them. Then, she shares lessons learned in over a decade working for the CIA, including actionable tips on how to spot fake news, how to make sense of the information we receive each day, and, perhaps most importantly, how to understand and see past our own information biases, so that we can think critically about important issues and put events happening around us into context.

True or False includes a wealth of photo illustrations, informative inserts, and sidebars containing interesting facts and trivia sure to engage readers in critical thinking and analysis.

This title has common core connections.

Print length

322 pages
Language

English
Sticky notes

On Kindle Scribe
Publisher

Feiwel & Friends
Publication date

28 July 2020
Reading age

13 - 18 years
Grade level

7 - 9
File size

70643 KB
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Product description

From the Publisher

Cindy L. Otis, author of <i>True or False</i>, knew that she wanted to join the CIA at seven years old when her dad let her watch her first James Bond movie. And after receiving her bachelor’s degree in international politics and her master’s in international relations with an emphasis in national security from Boston University, her dream came true. Cindy spent most of her career as a military analyst, but also served as an intelligence briefer to the White House, and later, as Branch Chief. She was the recipient of the Army Civilian Service Medal and the CIA’s Donald Cryer Award. Cindy now works in cybersecurity, regularly speaking and writing about political and national security issues for various media outlets. She also continues her life-long work advocating for disability rights. --This text refers to the hardcover edition.

About the Author

Cindy L. Otis, author of True or False, knew that she wanted to join the CIA at seven years old when her dad let her watch her first James Bond movie. And after receiving her bachelor's degree in international politics and her master's in international relations with an emphasis in national security from Boston University, her dream came true. Cindy spent most of her career as a military analyst, but also served as an intelligence briefer to the White House, and later, as Branch Chief. She was the recipient of the Army Civilian Service Medal and the CIA's Donald Cryer Award. Cindy now works in cybersecurity, regularly speaking and writing about political and national security issues for various media outlets. She also continues her life-long work advocating for disability rights. --This text refers to the paperback edition.

Review

A former CIA analyst unveils the true history of fake news and gives readers tips on how to avoid falling victim to it in this highly designed informative YA nonfiction title. --This text refers to the hardcover edition.

Book Description

A former CIA analyst unveils the true history of fake news and gives readers tips on how to avoid falling victim to it in this highly designed informative YA nonfiction title. --This text refers to the hardcover edition.

Review

If I could pick one book to hand to every teen--and adult--on earth, this is the one. True or False is accessible, thorough, and searingly honest, and we desperately needed it. --Becky Albertalli, author of Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda

Great historic examples. Practical solutions. A guidebook to learning from the past with actionable solutions to help you save our future. --Peiter Mudge Zatko, Former Senior Government Official, Famous Hacker, and Information Security Expert

I couldn't put this down (and even had to fight my husband for it). Entertaining, illuminating, and necessary. A must-read for everyone.--Gloria Chao, author of American Panda and Our Wayward Fate

A necessary and engaging resource that should be required reading for all high school students. ...The book's droll tone and quick pace will thoroughly engage even those who dislike nonfiction; all readers will be empowered with a more critical eye when browsing their news feeds. --School Library Journal, Starred Review

Written in an easy, conversational style matched by a user-friendly design with pullouts, exercises, and photographs, it's a book that teachers and civic leaders will want to make required reading. -- Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

Most of the mini lessons herein gain their impact from Otis' engaging storytelling, with historical episodes illustrating the various ways truth has been altered for public consumption followed by .... tips and checklists and self quizzes that encourage readers to hone their own skills at unmasking humbugs. --Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

This is an important and timely book. The straightforward language, geared for readers ages 13 to 18, doesn't diminish its usefulness for adults. It would also be a good source for teachers leading middle or high school classes in media studies, current events, or critical thinking. -- The Washington Independent Review of Books

In True or False, Cindy Otis, a former CIA analyst, provides an informative and engaging survey of fake news throughout history; an analysis of principles of psychology (confirmation bias, negativity bias and cognitive dissonance) behind the attraction to it; and practical recommendations and challenging exercises to test our skills for how to avoid falling for it. -- The Jerusalem Post

--This text refers to the paperback edition.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B07TTZ8CPB
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Feiwel & Friends (28 July 2020)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 70643 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 322 pages

Best Sellers Rank: 544,716 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- 17 in Modern History for Young Adults
- 49 in Politics & Government for Young Adults
- 150 in Reference Material for Young Adults

Customer Reviews:
244 ratings

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Cindy L. Otis

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Cindy L. Otis is the author of the forthcoming novel At the Speed of Lies, out with Scholastic July 6, 2023, and the critically acclaimed non-fiction book True or False: A CIA Analyst’s Guide to Spotting Fake News, out now with Macmillan.

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5

244 global ratings

5 star		72%
4 star		16%
3 star		6%
2 star		4%
1 star		1%

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Amazon Customer

Well written

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 31 May 2021

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A well written book that had me from from the first chapter. I am happy that I can recognise fake news and what steps to take.

OliverW8

Entertaining and disquieting history of disinformation

Reviewed in Germany 🇩🇪 on 7 September 2020

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I had previously read about disinformation and smear campaigns by prospective senators in ancient Rome, but I never quite made the connection to our more recent Western history until reading this excellent book. Thomas Jefferson, one of the prime intellects of his time, surreptitiously publishing bald-faced lies about his opponent, and in turn being outed as having a long-standing affair and children with one of his slaves? Another one of my heros has tumbled off his pedestal... Poor, clueless Marie Antoinette the unfortunate victim of yellow press style tactics (by way of so-called "libelles", which gave rise to the English word libel) painting her as a jaded strumpet and an enemy of the French people - the fact that I still believed the quote "let them eat cake" to have actually come from her is a testament to the persistence of false information. What to speak of now, when a tweet containing completely and verifiably false information is published and has garnered 2.4 million views by the time it's taken down! It still strikes me as strange that as a people we hold the concept of TRUTH in such high regard, yet spend most of our time either fabricating or consuming lies to convince ourselves and others of our opinion. Be that as it may, this book is certainly a great guideline for researching the veracity of information and to at least become aware of how one's own biases skew perception. Should become mandatory reading in schools around the world!

Amazon Customer

Entertaining and educational

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on 11 August 2020

Verified Purchase

Useful and entertaining for adults as well as teens. I particularly like the author's application of scientific principles of evidence to evaluation of written content. I think this will be very useful to both my science-loving students (many of whom don't get equally good grades in reading/writing classes) and my students who excel in reading/writing classes but aren't as attuned to logical analysis needed in Math and Science classes. The techniques and examples are clearly illustrated and the book is engaging. There are even sample exercises in the book! (I was told by Amazon today that copyright provision permits me to display a single page on a class-room sized screen to discuss the material BTW). Highly recommend for teachers who want to assign this book in Language Arts or Science classes...to offer individual students extra credit for reviewing this book...to parents for family review and discussion. One caveat - while the author uses historical fake news examples spanning Roman times to present....some examples from very current political events involve current politicians in office. A very few school administrators or parents "may" interpret the inclusion of these examples as some kind of bias for/against certain politicians. For this reason, I strongly suggest reviewing this book yourself before gifting it or assigning it to anyone...and make your own informed decision as to (A) which chapters or examples to discuss or (B) who would or would not be interested in reading this book.

12 people found this helpful

RJ

One of the better books of 2020

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on 14 November 2020

Verified Purchase

I really liked this book. Very educational, well researched, fun to read, and the author has a good sense of humor at just the right moment. I highly recommend this book. In fact if you like to give books for Christmas, this would be the perfect one for anybody or everybody.

As an aside the author even inserted a little fake news herself when she called Hitler’s political party the “National Party.” We all know the name of the party was the ‘National Socialist Party.’ Also the author’s strong implication that NBC, the Washington Post, and the BBC are ‘politically neutral’ when clearly they are not.

7 people found this helpful

Reed Maxson

A "must read"

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on 22 September 2020

Verified Purchase

For those who get most of their "news" through social media, this book should be on top of their reading list. I enjoyed reading the history of fake news, especially the section on some of our (United States) earlier politicians. I generally agree with the other 5 star reviews, but add this caveat: I bought the Kindle edition. My Kindle's screen is 6 inches (measured diagonally), and I found all of the screen captures, examples and exercises extremely difficult to read, even with a magnifying glass. The screen shots are simply too small, and there's no way to increase their size on my Kindle. After viewing several exercises with various magnifying glasses and lenses, I eventually skipped them. The author provides her answers in regular sized font, so the reader can get the gist of the exercises without doing them. But I feel slightly cheated in this regard.

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True or False: A CIA Analyst's Guide to Spotting Fake News Kindle Edition

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