Dear Mr. President: Theodore Roosevelt Letters from a Young Coal Miner - Hardcover

Armstrong, Jennifer

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1890817279 ISBN 13: 9781890817275

Publisher: Winslow Pr, 2001

Synopsis

Fifteen-year-old Frank Kovacs, a Polish immigrant working in the coal mines of eastern Pennsylvania, begins a correspondence with Theodore Roosevelt after he assumes the presidency on September 14, 1901.

About this title

From Booklist:

Gr. 3-6. This is the first in the Dear Mr. President series, which uses fictionalized letters between an imaginary child and a U.S. president to profile a chief executive and highlight important events of the time. Theodore Roosevelt corresponds with a 13-year-old Pennsylvania coal miner, Frank Kovacs, who participated in the Anthracite Coal Strike of 1902. Kovacs reveals much about the hardships of mining life for the workers and their families as well as the reasons for the strike. Roosevelt's letters emphasize his interactions with his own children and his feelings about the strike and its effects on the country. As always, Armstrong's research is solid and her prose strong, particularly as she contrasts Roosevelt's well-written, candid letters with Frank's naive, less-polished ones. The textbook format is a great departure for a fiction series. The book features numerous captioned documentary photos and political cartoons, an extensive bibliography, a time line, biographical information, an index, and a 20-page appendix. There are also links to the publisher's Web site where children can find a more complete discussion of selected topics. Classes studying the period are probably the best market for the title, though browsers who get past the format will enjoy the story, and teachers and students alike will find the book very clear about where the fact and fiction diverge. Kay Weisman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

From School Library Journal:

Gr 5-7-A new series in which readers meet a president through fictional correspondence with a young person of the time period. In this volume, children learn about mining life and work in Pennsylvania in the early 1900s. Fifteen-year-old Frank Kovacs comes to life through his letters while the contrasts of economic class and social roles are made vivid by Roosevelt's letters. Readers are also made aware of the workers' plight, the movement toward child-labor laws, strikes, and unionization. Historical photos, cartoons, and sketches add visual interest. Readers are frequently referred to the publisher's Web site for additional information. The "More about Theodore Roosevelt" section at the end of the book provides 10 pages of biographical information. While students may not be easily drawn into the letter format and style, teachers will be able to bring the characters, time period, and issues to life by reading selected letters aloud. Pair this book with the more complete information presented in Susan Campbell Bartoletti's Growing up in Coal Country (Houghton, 1996). An interesting addition to collections and curricula in which this time period and these issues are the focus of study.-Janie Schomberg, Leal Elementary School, Urbana,

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Winslow Pr
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 1890817279
• ISBN 13: 9781890817275
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 118