Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales: One Dead Spy

Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales: One Dead Spyis the first book in the graphic history series. I came across this series when it was requested as a birthday gift. While purchasing the books I found myself interested in reviewing them and checked the first out from our local library to see if it was as interesting as I'd been told. I am open to pursuing a wide variety of materials that engage children in learning as long as the material is accurate and relevant. Graphic novels do provide engagement, the key is making sure they are providing relevant and accurate information to move them beyond entertainment into actual valuable educational tools. I think this book achieves that goal.

The story begins at the hanging of the namesake of the series, Nathan Hale. In a reference to Scheherazade of the Arabian Nights, Nathan Hale is able to put off his hanging as long as he entertains his hangman with the story of the American Revolution. The story begins at the site of the hanging with a British soldier marching Hale to the hanging site. The soldier has forgotten his orders to hang Hale, so he is forced to leave Hale with the hangman while he returns to get the orders that make the execution official. The hangman proceeds to ask Hale about his final words, attempting to inject some humor to the situation. A disturbance occurs finding Hale getting eaten by an American history book, filling him with the knowledge of not only what has happened, but will happen in history.

When the soldier returns he and Hale debate and argue about the events that have occurred leading up to Hale's hanging. The executioner acts the part of the audience asking questions for clarification and understanding. He also continues the part of jester, making jokes at times.

I found the book flowed well and gave an overall interesting account of the American Revolution with a fantasy spin. What intrigued me is that while it covered all the main events it focused less on events more heavily covered in traditional books about the Revolution and put more emphasis on events that tend to get less coverage, including the people of the period. For instance, I've always found Henry Knox to be an amazing Revolutionary figure. What he accomplished moving the canons from Fort Ticonderoga was an amazing feat for someone who had no previous military or transport experience. He was primarily self taught from what he read. The graphic version of Knox is quite entertaining, but it also provides the historical importance of why what he did mattered.


The book also describes the military tactics behind the Battle of Bunker Hill without it being dry and dull. While the argument between Hale and the British officer is funny, it also does provide some insight into how the British and the Colonial troops did see the battles differently. The British won the Battle. but their losses were significant. The Colonials were able to escape to fight another day with significantly fewer losses. This is all explained in graphic format in a way kids can read, process, and understand. It is accurate without being dry.

Another area of the war I've not often found well covered is the war in New York. This book does a remarkable job describing what choices were made on both sides, the battles, and the outcomes.

Then of course we come back around to the story of how Nathan Hale took up spying, got caught, and was sentenced to hang. For those of you concerned he doesn't hang in the book, he's put off his hanging by promising more stories.

The book is a graphic novel and it does have fun with characters to provide humor and engagement with the story. Henry Knox is very entertaining in this story, I sincerely doubt he was that entertaining in life. However, it is a way to engage readers to want to know more about the events, people, and outcomes mentioned in the story. It would be addition to any unit on the American Revolution or a fun read for kids who like historical fantasy in a graphic novel format.

The Boston Tea Party

The Boston Tea Party (Graphic History)is another entry in the Graphic history series. For those interested all these books have come from the library and I have no connection with the publisher. I am interested in finding accurate and age appropriate history books to share with others. The publisher of this series has taken on a wide range of topics and I am curious to see if quality is as important as quantity, which is one of the reasons I have chosen to keep previewing the series. I am also interested in locating texts for specific topics.

Matt Doeden takes on the task of creating a graphic history that covers the time period of the Boston Tea Party. Many children's authors gloss over the details that created the conflict over the tea. Doeden does an excellent job in explaining the time line and the political issues involved with why the tea was being taxed, the deadlines for the tea to be unloaded, and the consequences of not unloading the tea. This sets the stage for why the colonists acted when they did, which is something many textbooks I have used with children are rather vague in explaining.

Doeden gives a detailed account of the actions of the colonists during the Boston Tea Party and gives one of the few explanations I have read in children’s books for the Native American costumes. The colonists did not expect to be mistaken for Indians; they only hoped not to be identified later for prosecution.

As with most of the books in this series, there is a hasty summary after the book discusses its main points. This is a weakness of the series. In many respects, the remaining time would be better spent discussing the books main topic leaving readers to visit other books to find out more about what happened next.

The Pilgrims and the First Thanksgiving

The Pilgrims and the First Thanksgiving (Graphic History)is another entry in the Graphic History Series. For those looking for Pilgrim resources this is a great companion to The Voyage of the Mayflower (Graphic History)which I reviewed previously.

Unlike previous books, this one focuses less on the history of colony. Its goal is to present information on community life. The author centers the book on how the colony survived to reach its first harvest feast. While the Mayflower book focused on using correct vocabulary, like Separatists, this author is more comfortable with the more familiar term Pilgrim. The author explains that they were Separatists, explains how the term Pilgrim emerged and settles on the term Pilgrim for the remainder of the book.

This book does provide more Native American history of the area than previous books on the topic, mentioning specific tribes by name. She also gives explanations as to why they were reluctant to have relations with the colonists.

While this book provides some solid background information about the colony, the residents, and the challenges they faced, my one disappointment is the author seemed to think her audience needed the information simplified and I have not seen evidence of that in previous editions of this series. I think other authors have done a marvelous job in this series with presenting challenging concepts without resorting to simplistic descriptions and explanations.

Despite my annoyance at some of her descriptions, I think this is a good resource to have available when studying the colony. The information on the Native American tribes is harder to find than it should be and this is one resource that gives students a starting point. Contrasting this author's style with others the children read can help them become more discerning readers of non-fiction resources.

Paul Revere's Ride

Paul Revere's Ride (Graphic History)Paul Revere's Ride is another entry in the graphic history series appropriate for Patriot's Day.

Xaviar Niz does a fairly accurate job in presenting Revere's Ride. He only credits Revere with saying the British were out once, which Revere would never have said. He does give accurate credit to the multiple riders and the urgency to provide warnings to protect both the munitions the British Regulars were after and the people they were seeking to arrest.

The book loses focus after the colonists are warned. It provides a very confused accounting of the battles fought at Lexington and Concord. This was not as strong an addition to the series as some of the previous titles I have reviewed. However, considering how many inaccurate accounts of Revere's ride I have read, I think this one is worth reading because it does provide details not included in many of the other books available for children on this topic.

The Boston Massacre

While there are many children's books that cover the events of Lexington and Concord it is much harder to find accurate, age appropriate material that covers the Boston Massacre. The Boston Massacre (Graphic History)by Michael Burgan is another entry in the Graphic history series.

This book starts with the conflicts and issues leading up to the mob scene that resulted in the British Regulars firing on colonial citizens. It discusses the Stamp Acts and the reaction that arose after the colonists found out their long standing relationship with Great Britain and taxes had changed.

The book does something few on the topic do, it gives the reader a bit of perspective on how the loyalists felt by telling the story of a loyalist shopkeeper who was attacked by mobs determined not only to harm his business, but his person. Many textbooks fail to address that the mobs in Boston were not just a concern to the British, but to Colonial leaders as well. While they disagreed with the tax policies and the monopolies that the British government imposed, they were also aware of the danger uncontrolled mobs posed to their futures as well. While they proved useful in creating disturbances such as they Boston Tea Party that rallied public outrage, they were aware of the dangers that could occur should they lose control of the mob's focus, too.

The book does not address how the incident came to be known as the Boston Massacre when similar previous encounters did not reach this level of colonial outrage. That is something teachers and parents will have to seek other resources to discover.

It does however, address John Adam's involvement with the trial of the soldiers accused of murdering civilians in the incident. His actions in defending the soldiers created some animosity between Adams and certain colonial leaders. Adams felt that instead it created the legitimacy of the movement. It was not a mob movement, but one that respected the rule of law.

This book does a good job at trying to recreate the very hostile atmosphere of an occupied Boston. Loyalists had issues with those who sought more freedom. Tensions occurred as a distant Parliament sought more control and instead created more chaos. Orders like the Quartering Act which seemed reasonable to the British government, only created more anger and tension. This in turn gave more support to mobs, which in more reasonable times, people would have turned against.

The Voyage of the Mayflower

The Voyage of the Mayflower (Graphic History)is another wonderful addition to the Graphic History series.

Allison Lassieur does a great job in providing children with accurate information and vocabulary. She uses the word Separatists to refer to the travelers, which is not only accurate, but also easier to explain to children than the more common term Pilgrims. The book does not start with the travelers boarding the ship or already on the ship, but explains what life was like for the community living in Holland. This ultimately provides students with a deeper understanding of their motivations for leaving and making a journey to lands none of the future settlers had been to prior to this trip.

The book also addresses another area that often is ignored, the financing of the trip. The book discusses the financial backing they required. It mentions them seeking out Thomas Weston and how they recruited other people to make the journey who did not share their religious beliefs, labeling them strangers. These additional passengers were required to meet the financial obligations of the journey. The book also explains some of the issues that arose as the second ship, the Speedwell was not able to continue with the journey.

The strongest parts of the book were those that discussed the journey. The book loses some of its focus when the settlers arrive in the New World and the author appears to be hurrying to a finish. I would suggest this as a resource for learning about the Separatists and the journey of the Mayflower and seeking information about the settlement from other resources.

I continue to be amazed at the quality and accuracy of the information that is provided in the graphic novel format. These books are appropriate for younger students and can be used with older students too. They would be especially useful for older students that may struggle with reading or have second language challenges. The information is accessible, but still very accurate.