A History of US: Liberty for All?: 1820-1860 A History of US Book Five
Grade 5 Up-The strengths of this series entry are a lively, engaging style; short chapters; many black-and-white illustrations; and the inclusion of lots of stories about women and minorities. Hakim's conversational storytelling style draws readers into the years from 1800 to the eve of the Civil War. Through sidebars, inserts, and the extensive use of first-hand accounts, the author lets readers experience the lives of mountain men and pioneer women, Mormons and mill workers, railroad men and stagecoach travelers. She covers traditional subjects such as the Western expansion, new inventions and developments that linked the country, the rise of manufacturing and the growth of cities, and the increasingly tense coexistence of slave-owning and free states. More depth is offered in sidebars on specific individuals and events such as the Amistad rebellion, the growing American literary and artistic movement, Nathaniel Bowditch, the whaling trade, the women's suffrage movement, and the Underground Railroad. The narrative leads readers straight to the next volume in the series to see what happens next. The format is busy and the pages have a xeroxed look, but the print is not difficult to read. A good choice for browsers, report writers, and storytellers looking for historical anecdotes.Sally Bates Goodroe, Houston Public LibraryCopyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.