Nathan Hales - Hazardous Tales

Kids, Students, and Life-Long Readers,

I have found my new favorite series for learning about history - Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales.  My new task is to collect every copy for my personal library - here I come Amazon.

As I am sure you all know, Nathan Hale was an American spy during the Revolutionary War.  He is known for giving his life for our country and spoke the famous words, "I only regret that I have one life to give for my country."  The premise of each book is Hale is about to be executed by a British soldier and the hangman, but first, they want to hear a story.  This is where Nathan will tell them about a section of history.  I have read the Underground Railroad and World War 1.  Both have been outstanding!

The first reason I love this series is that fact that it is a graphic novel. Loving and understanding history starts with making it visual.  Kids will be drawn to the cartoon, and the comic book feels.  It won't seem like they are reading a history book.  The layout continues to change throughout the book, so it doesn't feel static or lack-luster.  The second reason is the attention to interesting details.  This will not give you a brief overview of the historical context.  Hazardous Tales will answer those questions that you were wondering, and provide the juicy or gross details that we all love.  The final reason is the humor aspect.  The back and forth between are three characters provide a bit of humor to break up the influx of historical context.  I often find myself laughing out loud as I am reading - which may seem odd to be laughing when I am reading about World War 1.

I encourage all readers to give one of these a try - you will not be disappointed, and you can learn a bit of history.

AUTHOR: ???

GENRE:  Nonfiction - Graphic Novel

GRADE LEVEL: 5-8

Teens at War (Student Book Talk)

Kids, students, and lifelong readers,

Sometimes we have sacrifices that we have to make for our country, friends, and family. This book explains about ten true stories about teenagers that sacrificed many things. 15-year-old Julian saves hundreds of people at Lee’s Mill while, 12-year-old Calvin lies about his age so he can get into war during World War ll. I would say that this book can get very sad but then there are those moments that you feel happy because you think about all the people that fought for our country. In this book, you really get that feeling. This book makes you want to read more nonfiction books. All the stories make your heart pound and pound and if you like this feeling this is the right book for you.

Stealing Home - The Story of Jackie Robinson (Student)

A life is not important except if it has impact on other lives.

I'm not concerned with your liking or disliking me... All I ask is that you respect me as a human being.

Baseball is like a poker game. Nobody wants to quit when he's losing; nobody wants you to quit when you're ahead.

These phrases come from the iconic player Jackie Robinson so with Jackie Robinson Day coming up you can read this and know what he had to fight. All this fighting only because his skin color, this was one of the most important moments for the Civil Rights Movement.

- Jackie will have to show throughout his life that he is the best ball player in the field. Despite him being treated terrible by most players in the league. People will try to spike him and pitchers will try to hit him with the ball.

- With all of those things he will need to achieve he will have to biggest test with all the racial things happening how will he react? Will he blow up and attack the players, or will he be quiet and keep it to himself?

This book shows how was life as an African-American was before the Civil Rights Movement. The biggest thing in the book is obviously race. This shows to not judge people by skin color. This also shows to not think of yourself higher than someone because of a racial idea or if I am richer I am better. But overall to not judge people by small things about them but to be open minded.

AUTHOR: Barry Denenberg

GENRE: Non-Fiction

GRADES: 4-8

Lincoln's Spymaster

Kids, students, and life-long readers,

Allan Pinkerton - Does the name ring a bell?  Unless you are a historian or just a lover of American history you probably don't recognize this name.  Started the secret service, stopped an assassination plot against Lincoln on his way to his inauguration, led a network of espionage to aid the Union during the Civil War, are a small sample of his accomplishments.  This non-fiction book tells the tale of one of America's most fascinating men during the 19th and 20th century.  The first part of this selection will highlight his espionage work during the Civil War and the start of his private investigation firm that eventually became a national program. The second half focuses his work as an outlaw hunter.  The use of trains was exploding during this era, along with the rise of outlaws that tried to rob these trains. Pinkerton Detective Agency hunted down some of the most notorious criminals including the Reno gang and Jesse James.

I had a hard time putting this book down once I started.  There wasn't much down time or dullness in the life of Allan Pinkerton.  If you've been looking for a non-fiction book to try out, I would highly recommend this book.

This Side of Wild

Alright kids, students, and readers for life,

Our beloved adventure/survivalist author of Hatchet and Dogsong is back with this nonfiction novel to share how his interactions with animals changed his life.  This short 118-page book has only five chapters, but each one has a very different narrative in the life of Paulsen.  There are unique stories like one of a poodle that became his protector when he decided to move to Alaska and was always watching his back even when bears happen to be present.  Or a dog that became his listener during his time at atomic bomb school. My personal favorite was his recollection of the birds and the bees attacking an over-crowded rest stop. This Side of the Wild shares a look into his uncommon interactions with animals and helps the reader find and rekindle a love of animals.

Author: Gary Paulsen

Genre: Non-Fiction / Animals

Grade Level: 5th-8th grade