Mercy Otis Warren: Author and Historian (Signature Lives: Revolutionary War Era series)
Grade 5-7–These titles introduce women who helped shape the nation. While they focus on the individuals, they occasionally oversimplify information. For example, Williams states that when Mason traveled with the Mormons and came across Native Americans, The encounters were usually pleasant, and Mormon Trail diaries tell of friendly trading.… The successes of the lone individual are often emphasized and pinpointed as a moment that started to influence all of history. InWarren, the womans brother is given credit for planting the seed of patriotism in America and beginning the fight for freedom when he openly opposed British rule in the courtroom. Terms are not well defined within the texts or do not appear in the glossary. The time lines of each womans life are attached to a chronology of world events at the end of the book. The juxtaposition of Mason moving to California in 1851 with postage stamps being widely used in 1852 fails to elicit a connection. The only electronic link mentioned is FactHound, which will find the best Web sites for you. While it lists eight sites for each book, they arent necessarily the best and dont empower readers to locate information on their own.–Kelly Czarnecki, Bloomington Public Library, ILCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.--This text refers to theLibrary Bindingedition.