Mr. Lincoln’s High-Tech War

Mr. Lincoln’s High-Tech War: How the North Used the Telegraph, Railroads, Surveillance Balloons, Ironclads, High-Powered Weapons, and More to Win the Civil War. By Thomas B. Allen and Roger MacBride Allen. National Geographic, 2008. 144 pages. $18.95

Summary: Mr. Lincoln’s High-Tech War is the story of the Civil War and a President who shaped the outcome by championing technology. President Abraham Lincoln grew up in a low-tech log cabin, but he led his country to win a war using a high-tech approach. In the 1860’s, high tech meant employing low-density gas-filled observation balloons, rapid-fire guns, modern telegraph lines, far-traveling trains and fire-resistant ironclad ships. The story of the Civil War and Lincoln’s leadership is told from a fresh perspective that shares details about the most influential inventors in the 1860’s and the technological successes and failures that influenced the North’s win. President Lincoln is portrayed as a president determined not only to do right by the people of the United States, but as an inventor at heart. The book reveals that Lincoln is the only president on record as a patent holder and shows how personally involved Lincoln was in the strategy of the Civil War. The War in this book has the same outcome as every other book on the Civil War, but the story of the war in this book is as innovative as the high-tech tools supported by President Lincoln.

Standard(s): California History/Social Science 8.10: students analyze the multiple causes, key events, and complex consequences of the Civil War.

Suggested age range: 10+ years

Annotation: Father and son team Thomas and Roger Allen combine their historical and technological expertise to create a unique perspective on the Civil War. It is the technological slant that offers readers a fresh view of an old war and a familiar president. By sharing President Lincoln’s efforts to champion innovation in communication, transportation and weaponry, the authors succeed in enticing readers to take another look at the 1860’s. Readers will see the 1860’s through period diagrams, sketches, paintings and page formats that evoke the 1860’s, but the storyline is driven by a contemporary-feeling theme: technology. This story of the Civil War is told through invention, innovation, strategy and thinking outside the box and the result is compelling. The text reads quickly although it is filled with facts and dates. The Allens are master storytellers and the result is a reference book that reads like an exciting bedtime story. The book is enhanced by a comprehensive bibliography, supplemental online resources on the subject, quote sources and a user-friendly index. Mr. Lincoln’s High-Tech War is an appealing non-fiction book for readers ages 10 and up and complements the Civil War curriculum covered in grade eight.

Subjects/themes: United States History, Civil War, United States Army, Technology, Abraham Lincoln

Awards:

=VOYA Nonfiction Honor List, 2009

=YALSA Excellence in Young Adult Nonfiction, 2010 Nominee

=ALA Notable Children’s Book, 2010

Reviews:

=Booklist (December 15, 2008)

=Kirkus Reviews (November 15, 2008)

=School Library Journal (February 1, 2009)

=Voice of Youth Advocates (February 1, 2009)

=Reference & Research Book News (May 1, 2009)

High interest annotation: Mr. Lincoln’s High-Tech War provides a unique perspective on how the Civil War was won by the North. The focus on technological advances in warfare makes for a fascinating read for history fans as young as ten years of age.

In My Own Skin: The Complexity of Living as an Arab in America

Byrd, N., & Jajeh, J. (Producers & Directors). (2001). In my own skin: The complexity of living as an Arab in America [Documentary]. Seattle, WA: Arab Film Distribution.

Summary: Five women, all Arab-American and all living in New York at the time of the September 11 attacks, come from different backgrounds and have vastly different opinions, but they are united in their struggle to find their place in American society. Each woman has a different idea of what it means to be Arab and of what it means to be American, and each shares her feelings and opinions in the wake of a fervor of anti-Arab sentiment. One woman explains her liberating decision to wear a veil, another describes her fear of returning to school after a terrorist attack, and still another expresses her almost militant desire to show Americans what it truly means to be Arab. Each woman’s story is a mix of the joys, sorrows, and contentions of being a part of two such different realms.

Standard(s): California History/Social Science 7.2: Students analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structures of civilizations of Islam in the Middle Ages; California History/Social Science 7.2.6: Understand the intellectual exchanges among Muslim scholars of Eurasia and Africa and the contributions Muslim scholars made to later civilizations in the areas of science, geography, mathematics, philosophy, medicine, art, and literature.

Suggested age range: 11 and up (film not rated)

Annotation: Nikki Byrd and Jennifer Jajeh’s documentary provides an intimate look at the struggles many Arab-Americans experience as they try to make their lives in the United States. Filmed just after the September 11 attacks, the documentary captures the conflict these women feel as they struggle to balance their pride in their heritage with their desire to be American in light of an atrocity for which much of America holds all Arabs accountable. Their candid interviews offer viewers great insight into what it is to be Arab and American, and will inspire viewers to be accepting and open-minded toward Arab-Americans. The information offered in this documentary is an excellent supplement for students studying Islam because it connects the Arab roots of Islam with Arab-Americans today, again providing viewers with a greater understanding of that growing immigrant population.

Subjects/themes: Arab-Americans, racism, September 11, immigration/assimilation, culture, identity

Awards:

• YALSA Selected Videos & DVDs for Young Adults

High interest annotation: Five Arab-American women share their struggles to fit into a society that resents them because of their heritage.

Written in Bone: Buried Lives of Jamestown and Colonial Maryland

Written in Bone: Buried Lives of Jamestown and Colonial Maryland. By Sally M. Walker. Caroirhoda Books, 2009. 144 pages. $22.95

Summary: Writer Sally M. Walker joins Dr. Douglas Owsley, a scientist at the Smithsonian Institute, on an archaeological dig in the Chesapeake Bay area. Written in Bone: Buried Lives of Jamestown and Colonial Maryland is the story of this dig and the lives and deaths of the people discovered, as well as their places in history. Walker provides detailed coverage of the unearthing of the remains of a teenage boy, an indentured servant, a colonial official and his wife and children, a ship’s captain and African slave girl. Details of the archaeological work are presented alongside background information about each grave’s inhabitant. Gamma x-rays, air pressure diagnostic tools and ground-penetrating radar machinery are just a few of the high tech items that the archaeological team uses to excavate and analyze the gravesites. Historical information about Jamestown and other colonial settlements in the 17^th and 18^th centuries is brought to bear upon the archeological discoveries to provide a fascinating picture of the this time in American history.

Standard(s): California History/Social Science 5.4.1: understand the influence of location and physical setting on the founding of the original 13 colonies, and identify on a map the locations of the colonies; 5.4.3: describe the religious aspects of the earliest colonies (e.g., Puritanism in Massachusetts, Anglicanism in Virginia, Catholicism in Maryland, Quakerism in Pennsylvania); and 5.4.6: describe the introduction of slavery into America.

Suggested age range: 10-14 years

Subjects/themes: Forensic anthropology, human remains, Jamestown, Chesapeake Bay Region, bones, customs, traditions

Awards:

=Junior Library Guild Selection

=YALSA Excellence in Young Adult Nonfiction, Finalist

=Benjamin Franklin Award, 2010

=ALA Notable Children’s Book, 2010

=Orbus Pictus Recommended Book, 2010

Reviews:

=Booklist (February 1, 2009)

=School Library Journal (February 1, 2009)

=Voice of Youth Advocates (April 1, 2009)

High interest annotation: Follow author Sally M. Walker as she joins renowned scientist, Dr. Douglas Owsley, on a fascinating archaeological expedition at the location of the Jamestown settlement. Learn how early colonists lived by using forensic anthropology to analyze their remains. Written in Bone: Buried Lives of Jamestown and Colonial Maryland offers a fascinating look at history through archaeology for readers ages 10-14 years.

Surviving Hitler: A Boy in the Nazi Death Camps

Warren, A. (2001). Surviving Hitler: A boy in the Nazi death camps. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers.

Summary: Jack Mandelbaum is 12 years old; he lives with his parents, older sister, and younger brother in 1939 Gdynia, the most beautiful city in Poland. He has just begun preparations for his bar mitzvah and has a carefree attitude about life, in spite of the circulating rumors about an upcoming war with Germany. As the rumors become more insistent, Jack’s father sends Jack and the rest of his family to live in a small town with Jack’s grandfather. His optimism still undaunted, Jack believes that his father will be joining them shortly and views the trip as an extended vacation from school—even when the Germans swiftly occupy Poland and force the Jewish men in the town to do hard labor. Soon, however, the Jews are forced to move to a ghetto in the town and, one awful morning, are divided up and sent to different Nazi camps. Jack, separated from his family and sent to a labor camp, is determined to survive and confident that he will eventually reunite with his family. As the years pass, however, and he is moved from camp to camp, Jack finds it increasingly difficult to play the survival game in a world where the rules are inconsistent and players are treated without the most basic of human consideration. He has to rely on the bonds he develops with other prisoners, chance, and his own determination to make it through to liberation.

Standard(s): California History/Social Science 10.8.5: Analyze the Nazi policy of pursuing racial purity, especially against the European Jews; its transformation into the Final Solution; and the Holocaust that resulted in the murder of six million Jewish civilians; California History/Social Science 10.8.6: Discuss the human costs of the war, with particular attention to the civilian and military losses in Russia, Germany, Britain, the United States, China, and Japan.

Suggested age range: 10 and up

Annotation: Andrea Warren’s powerful biography tells the story of Polish Janek “Jack” Mandelbaum’s experiences in Nazi labor camps during World War II. Only 12 years old when the war started, Jack emerged his immediate family’s only survivor after the war; he was 17 years old and weighed only 80 pounds at the time of liberation. Warren draws mainly upon Mandelbaum’s own memories to tell his story, but supplements them with facts about the Holocaust and a bit of literary creativity when it comes to remembered conversations (she also includes many direct quotations from Mandelbaum). While it describes one of the most devastating genocides in modern history, the story Warren tells is ultimately hopeful as a result of Jack’s refusal to give in to hatred. His relatively positive attitude balances the horrors being described and makes this biography an appropriate introduction to the Holocaust for tween readers. In addition to Jack’s story, Warren includes historical photographs throughout the text and several pages of general information about the concentration camps at the end of the book. Her list of recommended books and media is also a valuable resource for readers wishing to study the Holocaust further.

Subjects/themes: Concentration camps, Holocaust, World War II, Nazi Germany, occupation, Poland, death, survival, Judaism, immigration

Awards:

• 2002 Sibert Informational Book Honor
• 2002 Society of Midland Authors Book Awards

Reviews:

• Booklist (January 1, 2001)
• Kirkus Reviews (February 15, 2001)
• School Library Journal (2001)
• Voice of Youth Advocates (June 2001)

High interest annotation: Teenager Jack Mandelbaum is torn from his family and forced into a 1941 Nazi concentration camp; now he has to find a way to survive one of the most terrible events in human history.

An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793

Murphy, J. (2003). An American plague: The true and terrifying story of the yellow fever epidemic of 1793. New York, NY: Clarion Books.

Summary: It is the beginning of August in 1793, and the hot, humid weather in Philadelphia is making everyone miserable. Little do the city’s residents know, however, that the same weather is creating a breeding ground for a deadly disease that will soon ravage the city: yellow fever. At first, the relatively few cases seem as though they could be nothing more than a regular fever caused by the heat. But then Dr. Benjamin Rush begins to notice an alarming pattern that he recognizes from his previous encounters with the illness. Despite his attempts to warn others in the city, nobody believes Dr. Rush’s claims that yellow fever has struck until it has begun its rapid spread. Now, those wealthy enough to leave—including most of the newly formed government’s officials, President George Washington among them—are fleeing the city, leaving a catastrophic situation behind them. The poor left behind and the few rich brave enough to stay are left to muddle through as best they can. With surrounding cities shunning them, insufficient supplies, and too few healthy hands to accomplish much-needed work, Philadelphia’s most courageous inhabitants must step forward and work together to return the city to its former health and prosperity.

Standard(s): California History/Social Science 5.8: Students trace the colonization, immigration, and settlement patterns of the American people from 1789 to the mid-1800s, with emphasis on the role of economic incentives, effects of the physical and political geography, and transportation systems; California History/Social Science 8.4.1: Describe the country’s physical landscapes, political divisions, and territorial expansion during the terms of the first four presidents; California History/Social Science 8.4.4: Discuss daily life, including traditions in art, music, and literature, of early national America (e.g., through writings by Washington Irving, James Fenimore Cooper).

Suggested age range: 10 and up

Annotation: Jim Murphy’s narrative history of Philadelphia’s yellow fever epidemic is both fascinating and horrifying. Not shy about delving into the gory medical detail, Murphy presents a lesser-known yet highly impactful event in early American history in a very readable way. With generous use of primary sources, including newspaper clippings, paintings and drawing, and quotations, Murphy introduces his readers to many new historical figures in addition to shedding some new light on those who are already familiar. An American Plague covers nearly every aspect of the epidemic imaginable, from medical to political to economic to social to racial. Murphy’s inclusion of an annotated bibliography of his sources makes this resource even more valuable. Readers will emerge from this text highly knowledgeable about not only yellow fever, but about the state of much of the country in its early years.

Subjects/themes: Yellow fever, epidemics, American history, political figures, health/medicine, racial issues

Awards:

• 2003 National Book Awards (Finalist)
• 2004 Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for Excellence in Children’s Literature
• 2004 James Madison Book Award
• 2004 Newberry Honor Book
• 2004 Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children
• 2004 Sibert Informational Book Medal

Reviews:

• Kirkus Reviews (April 1, 2003; starred review)
• School Library Journal (2003)
• Voice of Youth Advocates (December 2003)

High interest annotation: Yellow fever has come to 1793 Philadelphia—and try as they may, nothing and no one can stop its destructive run through the city.