Paul Revere (In Their Own Words) - Softcover

Sullivan, George

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0439095522 ISBN 13: 9780439095525

Publisher: Scholastic Reference, 2000

Synopsis

This book brings Paul Revere's legendary midnight ride to life, and reveals that Revere was active in many of the events that led to the Revolution. Readers will also learn about other famous Americans of the time, including John Hancock and Sam Adams.

About this title

About the Author

Author George Edward Sullivan was born on August 11, 1927, in Lowell, MA. Between 1945 and 1948, he was in the U.S. Navy, where he served as a journalist. He has written over 200 nonfiction books for children and young adults on a wide variety of topics. In 2005, his book BUILT TO LAST was honored with the Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children. Sullivan is a member of PEN, Authors Guild, Authors League of America, and the American Society of Journalists and Authors. He lives in New York with his wife.

From School Library Journal

Grade 4-6-These titles have "reluctant reader" written all over them. They are decently packaged with well-chosen and credited photographs, but the large-print, generously spaced text is written in short, choppy sentences, losing the narrative flow and the drama of history well told. In Lewis and Clark, the expedition is said to be traveling "mostly north" toward the Gates of the Mountains, after their portage of the Great Falls on the Missouri River, an egregious geographical error. Even more bizarre is the use of the term "Chopponish" for the much more commonly known Nez Perce. Expedition journals used the uncommon appellation, but there is no footnote explaining the connection. Unfortunately, in telling about the expedition's various encounters with Native Americans, Sullivan emphasizes the potentially threatening, unfriendly, and fearsome aspects. Paul Revere also contains factual errors but suffers even more from oversimplification. There is no discussion of the American colonial system as context for the independence movement and revolution; events such as the First Continental Congress are mentioned with no explanation. For a title on Lewis and Clark that is truly "in their own words" see Peter and Connie Roop's Off the Map: The Journals of Lewis and Clark (Walker, 1993), and for an excellent, accessible history, Rhoda Blumberg's The Incredible Journey of Lewis and Clark (Morrow, 1995) is hard to beat. Jean Fritz's And Then What Happened, Paul Revere? (Coward-McCann, 1973) remains a favorite account of the silversmith's daring role in revolutionary America. Given the sloppy effort, these titles are marginal.
Nancy Collins-Warner, Neill Public Library, Pullman, WA
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Scholastic Reference
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0439095522
• ISBN 13: 9780439095525
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 128