In American Lion by Jon Meecham, Andrew Jackson’s presidency is described for the curious, and biography of the widower is shared for the modern understanding. Jackson was unique in his approach to the presidency, and his new approach did change politics in the USA for ever. Since I feel last night’s election is likewise ushering in a new type of president, it seems appropriate to finally write my thoughts about Meecham’s biography of Jackson, which I read half a year ago.
As in his other photographic history books (Abraham Lincoln being the most well known to me), in We Will Not Be Silent, Russell Freedman tells a true story with the added addition of photographs to give the characters life. In this case, he shares about the brave students in Germany who stood up to Hitler, Hans and Sophie Scholl. The Scholl children published anti-Nazi brochures and worked to spread the understanding of the danger of Hitler’s policies. Ultimately, they paid for their bravery with their lives.
Nine, Ten: A September 11 Story by Nora Raleigh Baskin captures the days before the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 for four very different children: a girl whose mother travels to New York, a Muslim girl, a boy who lives in New York, and a boy who lives Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Two days before, all four children’s paths cross as they wait for their airplane in Chicago, and their paths cross once more when they all attend the Ground Zero memorial in New York City the following year, September 11, 2002.
The Left Behinds series so far contains two different historical fiction novels with time travel adventures in which preteens must save the day. In The iPhone that Saved George Washington, three kids travel to 1776 to discover that George Washington has been shot. Can they reverse this alternate history before history is changed forever? In Abe Lincoln and the Selfie that Saved the Union, the same kids must stop a change in the Battle of Gettysburg. Will they be quick enough?
