It's Up to You, Abe Lincoln

September 15, 2018
One decision can change your life...these 10 decisions turned a man into a president.The father-daughter Hirschfeld team examines the life of Abraham Lincoln in this quirky and humorous biography. The narrative is written as if it's speaking directly to Lincoln, using active, directional statements that transport readers into each highlighted moment of history. And what a history it is; 10 key moments in Honest Abe's life (including the coinage of that moniker) are discussed across 10 chapters. Each chapter concludes with a quiz for readers encouraging them to predict how Abe should react to each situation. Each quiz is followed by "The Reveal," a summary of how and why Lincoln responded to each specific situation. Sprinkled throughout are facts about Lincoln's life, vocabulary lessons, and archival images of Abe's contemporaries embellished with humorous, cartoonish speech bubbles. The overall effect gives readers an image of our 16th president that is humanizing and engaging. After the 10 questions have wrapped, the book continues over an additional 10 chapters that are packed with trivia, information on Abe's personal and professional lives, and one score and change of bibliographic wonders. The humor doesn't run out in the second half; readers are challenged to imagine Abe's reactions to modern concepts from genetic engineering to emojis. Educators will love this title for its wealth of information, and young readers will love it for its welcoming tone.Be a best friend and give this book to someone who has not read it. (Biography. 10-12)

COPYRIGHT(2018) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

November 1, 2018

Gr 4-8-In this fresh take on Abraham Lincoln, the past president's life is explored through 10 of his major decisions. The authors use second person point of view, setting the humorous tone in the first chapter: "How could a gangly, awkward, unschooled backwoods pauper achieve such dazzling feats?" The following chapters each focus on one choice, using the same format: provide a wealth of background information, offer multiple choices so readers can see the options Lincoln had and make the tough decisions themselves, and then examine the repercussions of Lincoln's actual choices. This structure creates a sense of immediacy and drama, and also humanizes an often mythic figure. While the writers keep things funny with pithy asides and irreverent images, they also manage to depict Lincoln's complexity, particularly in their sensitive exploration of the fact that he abhorred slavery but didn't support full social and political equality of the races. In addition to lists of suggested reading and websites, there are also addenda both enlightening and silly, such as "What Would Abe Think?" speculating Lincoln's likely reaction to topics like pizza and communism. VERDICT Bound to be popular among history and trivia buffs.-Elizabeth Lovsin, Deerfield Public Library, IL

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 1, 2018
Grades 5-7 With it's second-person narration directly addressing Old Abe, and its conceit of taking turning points in Lincoln's life as opportunities to give him multiple options (� la Choose Your Own Adventure), the first in the It's Up to You series seeks to reimagine biographies for middle-grade readers. Should Abe marry Mary Todd or not? How should he handle the release of the Emancipation Proclamation? The Hirschfeld father-daughter author duo sneak in humor, facts, and lots of illustrations, making the book attractive for reluctant readers. They manage to balance this out with more serious back matter, like time lines and recommended reading, although, in an iffier move, they also include a speculative list called "What Would Abe Think?" that tries to examine how Lincoln would address such items as communism, nuclear weapons, reality TV, and pizza. Readers graduating from the Who Was? biography series are a good audience for this endeavor. They might even want to try the recipe for Lincoln's favorite French almond cake.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)