The Thrifty Guide to the American Revolution

October 23, 2017
In the year 2163, the past is the new luxury vacation destination: with this travel guide in hand, readers are invited to visit ancient Rome by hopping in their Time Corp Time Machine Sedan. Stokes (the Addison Cooke series) keeps up the tongue-in-cheek conceit throughout, offering readers advice about the perils of the era (“Time Corp’s legal department requires us to mention that if the fires don’t kill you, the floods probably will”) and entertainment options (“Romans also enjoy a great variety of sports and spectacles, most of which involve witnessing violent death, all for a very attractive price”), as well as information on various rulers and conflicts. Sossella brings a droll sense of humor to his engravinglike cartoons, and sidebars offering “helpful hints,” dispatches from Time Corp’s unsavory corporate overlord, and faux Yelp-style reviews (“I only got to eat one family,” complains a lion in a one-star review of the Flavian Amphitheater) round out a very funny tour of Rome’s bloody and tumultuous past. Also available: The Thrifty Guide to the American Revolution. Ages 8–12. Author’s agent: Brianne Johnson, Writers House.

December 1, 2017

Gr 4-7-Readers will need a musket, some multivitamins, a tricorn hat, and a Time Corp Time Machine if they're going to go on the rough-and-tumble adventure described in this volume. Kids experience the roughness of battle and 18th century life thanks to the second-person narrative. Rather than a textbook account, readers learn about the Revolutionary War as if they were there, courtesy of a fictional travel company, Time Corp. The illusion falls apart slightly whenever the narrator interjects the quirky habits and toxic management style of Time Corp founder, Finn Greenquill. Educators looking to shake up their staid lectures on U.S. independence will benefit most from this book. While excellent for grabbing the attention of reluctant readers or those fond of Penguin's "Who Is?" series, the book would also work well as a read-aloud in a classroom environment. However, some of the cooler callout boxes do require closer examination. Stokes's practice as a screenwriter is evident; readers will feel like they're in a blockbuster film. VERDICT A high interest video game-like exploration of the American Revolution. Consider for classrooms or as browsing fodder.-Kristy Kilfoyle, Canterbury School, Fort Myers, FL

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 1, 2017
Like The Thrifty Guide to Ancient Rome (2017), this 22nd-century publication by Time Corp gives those would-be time travelers wanting to partake of the American Revolution plenty of useful information to prepare for the trip.There is practical information on appropriate period dress, how to fire a musket, what to do if you are shot by one, and how to survive a stint in the Continental Army. You learn that men started wearing powdered wigs in the 1600s to cover up the lost patches of hair and bloody sores caused by syphilis. Poorly rated accommodations include the HMS Jersey prison ship and Valley Forge. Recommended as interesting lunch companions are African-American patriot Salem Poor, white teenage soldier John Greenwood, enslaved African poet Phillis Wheatley, and Benjamin Franklin. The factual information embedded in the jokey fictional narrative offers some interesting insights into the causes of the American Revolution, notable figures, pivotal battles, and strategies and tactics. Among the historical figures introduced are Benedict Arnold, Alexander Hamilton, John Paul Jones, Henry Knox, Paul Revere and, of course, George Washington.An entertaining introduction to America's War for Independence conveyed with enough kid-friendly humor that it may make those who dismiss history as a bore reconsider. (bibliography, maps) (Fiction. 8-12)

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December 15, 2017
Grades 3-7 To know what the American Revolution was really like, one needs to go back in timejust don't forget to grab this guidebook for time travelers first. Published holographically in 2164 and discovered outside a Manhattan pizzeria in 2018, it's chock-full of humor. After a brief introduction to time-travel methods, the book deposits readers in the colony of Massachusetts in 1773. From here, it identifies causes of the American Revolution, the formation of the Sons of Liberty spy ring, and the roles of the Continental Congress and the Declaration of Independence. Likening the war to a David and Goliath story, the bulk of the text focuses on the battles between the British and the Americans. The amusing guide is embellished with two-toned line drawings and maps, as well as People to Have Lunch With (e.g., Phillis Wheatley and Alexander Hamilton) and Helpful Hints (e.g., what to expect during cannon fire). Students not enamored with history just haven't read this guide yetpublishing jointly with The Thrifty Guide to Ancient Rome.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)