Review: A Ride to Remember
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 07 29, 2013
Take a new kid in class with an attitude, add a history teacher with an assignment that turns out quite different than the new kid expects, mix, and you end up with a delightful story of a bully that learns more than history.In Author Penny Estelle's MG Time Travel, RIDE OF A LIFETIME, James (Jim) Abernathy, new kid at Langdon Middle School, shows he's a bully the minute he steps into the classroom for the first time. He doesn't know the teacher, Miss Wickware, though, who is anything but your normal seventh and eighth grade history teacher. She knows how to deal with a bully as well as teach him a history lesson. The class is studying the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812, and she assigns the students oral reports. Jim draws the name Sybil Ludington, a girl of all things. He may think girls can't do anything, but what happens next will change Jim's life and his attitude.RIDE OF A LIFETIME is a great story for history lovers, kids that are being bullied and perhaps even the bullies, and for readers that like a good story with characters they can relate to. Even though I read a lot of historical novels, Penny Estelle's book taught me a few facts about the time period that I did not know. I recommend this story for middle school libraries and classrooms to discuss bullying and ways to prevent it, along with the historical aspects. Of course you'll want a copy for your own library too. The story is short and easy to read and well worth your time.###