Book Ideas Request

[at99sy]

One of my 9th grade students has requested information on the Collapse of the Soviet Union. We have talked about
some of the cause-effect relationships that existed including Reagan essentially bankrupting them during the arms race, internal
disintegration of the USSR, social instability, rapidly falling food production, collapse in oil prices which straggled financial ability to prop up the satellites etc.

This is a bright kid who took to heart my instructions to the class to ask great questions.
"The best questions will lead you on a journey of discovery, the answer is not always necessary."

Anyone in GD land have any book, journal, essay suggestions or links that would be appropriate for a very high functioning 9th grader?

Her prior inquiries were along the lines of "If the Civil War was all about slavery, how come so few people fighting for the South
owned slaves? and if the Emancipation Proclamation was supposed to have freed the slaves, why did we need the 13th Amendment?"
The US history teachers in my school hate me. All Boomers.

Cheers and thanks for any insight.

SY