Thomas Paine and the Dangerous Word

May 7, 2018
“Nobody expected much of young Thomas Paine,” begins Marsh in this buoyant story of Paine’s often-turbulent development as a Revolutionary-era writer and political activist. Though Paine attended school as a youth, he was forced to withdraw to work in his father’s corset shop. Nevertheless, as Paine is quoted as saying, “The mind once enlightened cannot again become dark.” Marsh recounts difficult passages in Paine’s life—failed businesses, bankruptcy, the death of his first wife and separation from his second—demonstrating how his love of the written word and dogged persistence (along with a fortuitous meeting with Benjamin Franklin) led to his eventual fame. Once in America, Paine channeled his outrage over the injustice of slavery and advocacy for American independence into his magnum opus, Common Sense. Fotheringham (A Home for Mr. Emerson), in his distinctive digital art featuring inky, dotted lines and infused with vivacity, depicts the struggles and triumphs of an unlikely revolutionary. Describing Paine as “America’s first best-selling author,” Marsh pays tribute to this inspiring historical figure. Ages 6–10.

Starred review from June 1, 2018
Grades 2-5 *Starred Review* Thomas Paine, author of the pamphlet Common Sense, which rallied the colonists to break from England, gets a strong, smart treatment here. Paine was born the son of a corset maker and undergarments were to be his future. But a love of reading gave him a way with words, and a thirst for adventure brought him to America in 1774, just as the colonies were trying to decide their fate. Common Sense, which was published in 1776, contained the shocking word independence. The Founding Fathers took note, the public snapped up copies, and the pamphlet was reprinted multiple times and became one of the things the Revolutionists rallied around. In her debut, Marsh does a fine job of mixing the personal and public elements of Paine's life; he comes across as not just a historical figure but a fully realized fellow with hopes and dreams, enthusiasms and disappointments. She also makes note of Paine's abolitionist views, an integral but often forgotten part of his story. Her lively text is complemented by Fotheringham's artwork, hand-drawn on a digital device, which sets the mood on every page. Though his palette is rather somber?browns, golds, and greens?his cast springs to life and have almost a Disney appeal. The back matter offers lots more information, especially about Paine's surprising end.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)