Cold War Correspondent, great storytelling on an area not covered in school

I make no bones about the fact that I absolutely love the Hazardous Tales book series from Nathan Hale. My only complaint about that non-fiction graphic novel series is that the pages and the font are too small. As if sensing my very wishes, Amulet Books published the Bigger & Badder Editions of some of the previously released Hazardous Tales. In my effort to temp the universe I complained about bad music on the radio and a lack of free pizza, to no avail. Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales Cold War Correspondent ups the ante to this series by making readers learn about a subject that they probably know nothing about in a manner that’s intelligent, funny, and respectful.

For me, Cold War Correspondent was a surprise because I thought I knew about the Cold War. It’s when countries don’t talk to each other and have an arms race where they build up their defense departments. Granted, it’s not a lot, but I knew the very basics, or so I thought. It turns out that my plebeian definition was just scratching the surface of a vast and complicated subject. The teacher in me wants to credit my definition for being very 80s-centric, but ‘cold war’ represents so much more than that.

A major clue into this is the sticker that’s on the book that says NHHT, A Korean War Tale. I taught a fifth-grade student one day who was able to recite facts, battles, and dates about the Korean War. It was amazing, humbling and I was a little bit thankful I only had him for one 50-minute class. Nathan Tale’s Hazardous Tales Cold War Correspondent is a graphic novel that looks at this period of time that fans of the series have come to expect.

The narrator and the usual cast of storytellers are here, but they’re also joined by Marguerite Higgins. Higgins was a reporter during WWII, the Korean War and covered some early aspects of the Vietnam War. It would be a cliché to call her a trailblazer for women reporters, but that is certainly one of the larger ways to describe her. She was a fearless reporter, who just happened to be a woman. Higgins didn’t enter that profession in the latter days of WWII with the goal of breaking barriers.

She was subject to cold treatment by colleagues, rumors, a ban on women reporters in Korea, and other things that were put in her way by jealous male reporters. When the second war ended, Higgins worked in Europe and was then sent to Tokyo in 1950. It was here when the Korean conflict started and the knowledge of the book started flowing.

However, before the book gets to this point, it briefly establishes what happened after the second war. Thousands of troops were going back to their respective countries, and Inchon, Korea was a massive staging point for people to flow in and out of the area. This also meant that Korea’s subjugation from Japanese troops was over, but the Americans, as well as other countries, were there to help or oppress, depending on whom you spoke to in the area.

Such is the greatness of many of the Hazardous Tales books, but especially in Cold War Correspondent. The title of the book will make one think that it’s all about a reporter during the Cold War, which, to an extent, it is. However, it’s as much about the Cold War, as it is about Marguerite Higgins. Readers will learn an almost impossible amount about the early 50s and the Korean War. They’ll also learn about Higgins, the work she did, and the obstacles that she overcame in order to do so.

This was our favorite Hazardous Tales graphic novel. The story, which I knew next to nothing about before the book, was compelling. It’s so outlandish that it feels like alternate history. Did this really happen and how could I not have known about this, were just two of the questions I asked myself. The illustrations add a touch of humor and humanity to the story. That’s another great attribute about these books. They often address ugly parts of our history, but they manage to do so in a way that makes readers acknowledge them in a way that’s respectful and direct. Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales Cold War Correspondent is a must-read for those upper-elementary readers and older who love learning and reading. Those folk who are more in the former camp will dig into something that they won’t discover in school and those in the latter category will continue the journey in their love of books.

Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales Cold War Correspondent is by Nathan Hale and available on Amulet books an imprint of Abrams Books.

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