I just finished reading two biographies of men born a century apart. Even though they were born into very different circumstances and faced different problems, both men were leaders who helped our country through difficult and violent times. I was struck by both the similarities and differences between Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King, Jr., [...]
Posts Tagged ‘history’
Lincoln’s Grave Robbers by Steve Sheinkin
I am now officially a Steve Sheinkin fan. I’ve read three of his books (all nonfiction!) this school year, and each one is better than the previous one. I wish all history was written like this. Lincoln’s Grave Robbers records one of the most bizarre incidents in US history that brings together counterfeiters, the Secret Service, [...]
Bomb by Steve Sheinkin
On the back flap of the book cover, Steve Sheinkin confesses that he once wrote history textbooks. He is now trying to make up “for his previous crimes by crafting gripping narratives of American history.” With Bomb: The Race to Build–and Steal–the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon, Sheinkin more than succeeds. This informational text reads like [...]
How They Croaked by Georgia Bragg
Are you looking for an informational text that is guaranteed not to bore you? Trust me. There are plenty of them out there. I just finished one of them–How They Croaked: The Awful Ends of the Awfully Famous (Scholastic 2011) by Georgia Bragg. As I read I found myself alternately snorting with laughter and gagging over [...]
The Crossing by Jim Murphy
Don’t know much ’bout history…At least I thought I knew a little something about history. Then I started reading books like The Crossing: How George Washington Saved the American Revolution (Scholastic Press 2010) and realized how much my history textbooks left out. Don’t worry. Jim Murphy has come through to fill you in on all the [...]
What happened to the Lost Colony?
Growing up in North Carolina, I was always fascinated by the story of Sir Walter Raleigh’s Lost Colony. How could over a hundred men, women, and children just disappear without anyone ever finding any sign of them later? No clues were left except the letters “CRO” carved on a tree and the word “CROATAN” carved [...]
Bootleg: Murder, Moonshine, and the Lawless Years of Prohibition by Karen Blumenthal
Karen Blumenthal writes nonfiction the way it should be written. I just wish my history textbooks in school had been written half as well as Bootleg: Murder, Moonshine, and the Lawless Years of Prohibition (Roaring Book Press 2011). I would have learned a lot more and enjoyed it, too. Blumenthal opens the book with one [...]
Terezin: Voices from the Holocaust by Ruth Thompson
Ruth Thompson has collected a haunting assortment of images and writings from Terezin, a small fortress town in the Czech Republic that the Zazis turned into a Jewish ghetto during World War II. Thousands of Jewish people from across Europe were imprisoned here. Many of them left for their deaths at Auschwitz. The ones who [...]
