Thursday, March 31, 2016

Whoppers: History’s Most Outrageous Lies and Liars by Christine Seifert - ESSENTIAL

Seifert, Christine Whoppers: History’s Most Outrageous Lies and Liars, NON FICTION 223 pgs. Zest Books, 2015. $13.99. Language: G ( 0 swears, 0 “f”); Mature Content: PG; Violence: G.   

There have been some pretty great lies told throughout history, and some of the best have been compiled and explained in this fun and enlightening book.  Divided into 4 sections with 3 or four chapters each, the reader learns about well known people like P.T. Barnum and Washington Irving and lesser known people like Pope Leo X and George Hull (who played the Cardiff Giant prank). You read about poop burgers (yuck) and Listerine. Religious scams, Ponzi schemes and pretenders like Anna Anderson - was she the missing daughter of the Russian Czar? There’s even a section on aliens, ghosts and monsters - BigFoot and Loch Ness monster lovers, beware.  

The chapters are concise - 3-4 pages each, giving just enough background knowledge to get you into the story and then unmasking, explaining, disproving.  This was a very fun read.  Full of “did you knows” and “you’ll never believe whats.”  Highly recommended for middle school and high school readers, and I’m not lying!  

MS, HS - ESSENTIAL  Lisa Librarian

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