Yellow Journalism by Daniel Cohen

taken from Amazon:

From School Library Journal Grade 5-9-A history of sensational news reporting, beginning with the story of life on the moon as described by the New York Sun in 1835. The public's appetite for the scandalous and salacious is not peculiar to our time; Cohen tells how lurid reporting, accompanied by shocking photographs, helped William Randolph Hearst and others to increase circulation of their newspapers.
The author provides accounts of media coverage of some specific events such as the Lindbergh baby kidnapping, the Sam Sheppard case, and the O. J. Simpson trial. Well-chosen, black-and-white illustrations, including several graphic photographs, appear throughout.

For a pro/con assessment of the media, William Barbour's The Mass Media (Greenhaven, 1994; o.p.) is still a good choice. However, Cohen's title is a worthy introduction for curious students. Linda W. Tilden, Cherry Hill Public Library, NJ Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Booklist Beginning with a comical takeoff on sensational journalism, Cohen takes a look at journalism gone awry, making the facts every bit as absorbing as the most exaggerated tabloid.

Tracing the history of modern yellow journalism back to an 1835 New York Sun article describing alien life discovered on the moon, he strings together one fascinating story after another, illustrating how the public's voracious appetite for scandal empowers hack journalists.

Most of the book focuses on print media, though later chapters include discussion of the influence of television and the Internet on shaping public opinion on everything from Kennedy's election to Monica Lewinsky's notoriety. The book also treats readers to a brief history lesson that highlights people (Hearst, Winchell), places (death row, O.J.'s courtroom), and trials (Lindbergh, Sheppard) that have become part of popular culture.

Enhanced by vivid if occasionally gruesome photos, this is nonfiction so riveting it's almost impossible to put down. Roger Leslie Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Zorro: Una Novela by Isabel Allende

taken from Wikipedia

Zorro is a 2005 novel by Chilean author Isabel Allende. Its subject is the pulp hero Diego de la Vega, better known as El Zorro (The Fox), who was featured in an early 20th-century novel. The novel takes the form of a biography and is the first origin story for this legendary character. In terms of material, it is a prequel to Johnston McCulley's 1919 novella The Curse of Capistrano, which first featured the character of Zorro. The story incorporates details from a variety of works that have featured the pulp hero, including the 1998 film The Mask of Zorro.

taken from Isabel Allende's website

A swashbuckling adventure story, Zorro reveals the history behind the legendary masked man. Born in Southern California in the late eighteenth century, Diego de la Vega is a child of two worlds. His father is an aristocratic Spanish military man turned landowner, his mother a Shoshone warrior. From his father, Diego receives lessons in the art of fencing and in cattle branding; from his maternal grandmother, White Owl, he learns the ways of her tribe. As a child he also witnesses the brutal injustices dealt Native Americans by European settlers and begins to feel the inner conflict of his dual heritage. At the age of sixteen, Diego is sent to Barcelona to be educated. Spain is chafing under the corruption of Napoleonic rule, and Diego, following the example of his celebrated fencing master, joins La Justicia, a secret underground resistance movement devoted to helping the powerless and the poor. With this tumultuous period as a backdrop, Diego falls in love, saves the persecuted, and confronts a great rival who emerges from the world of privilege. After many adventures—duels at dawn, fierce battles with pirates at sea, and daring rescues—Diego de la Vega, a.k.a. Zorro, returns to America to reclaim the hacienda where he was raised and to seek justice for all who cannot fight for it themselves. Spanning the globe from California to Barcelona—the New World and the Old—Zorro celebrates the birth of a great hero and legend.