Thomas Edison to the Rescue!
Grade 1-2-Simple sentences portray a dramatic event in 15-year-old Edison's life. He sells food on the railroad platform, and one day removes a toddler from the path of a rolling boxcar. The child's father, the station telegraph operator, says, "How can I ever repay you, Tom? I am not a rich man, but would one hundred dollars help?" Edison replies, "I do not want your money, sir-.But could you teach me to be a telegraph operator?" Tom continues, "I have read a lot about electricity-.I am sure electricity can run lots of things." Mr. Mackenzie's response foreshadows Tom's future, "Maybe even an electric light!" While the text is engaging and accessible for beginning readers, the presumed conversation and descriptions of events and feelings render the work historical fiction, not nonfiction, as the CIP indicates. Mr. Mackenzie's offer of one hundred dollars may capture children's attention but it will also mislead them, for in 1862 it was one-sixth of an average family's income. Many Edison biographers indicate that Mackenzie was not a wealthy man, making this offer a troubling departure from fact. DiVito's attractive pen-and-watercolor cartoons further the impression that this is not nonfiction.Laura Scott, Farmington Community Library, MICopyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.