KING GEORGE NEVER DID UNDERSTAND AMERICANS "Entire books have been written about the causes of the American Revolution. This isn't one of them." What it is, instead, is utterly interesting, antedotes (John Hancock fixates on salmon), from the inside out (at the Battle of Eutaw Springs, hundreds of soldiers plunged into battle "naked as they were born") close-up narrative filled with little-known details, lots of quotes that capture the spirit and voices of the principals ("If need be, I will raise one thousand men, subsist them at my own expense, and march myself at their head for the relief of Boston" -- George Washington), and action, It's the story of the birth of our nation, complete with soldiers, spies, salmon sandwiches, and real facts you can't help but want to tell to everyone you know. King George: What Was His Problem? is a 2009 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year. In his amusing opening statement, Confessions of a Textbook Writer, Sheinkin divulges that while writing history textbooks, he stashed away the good stuff, cool stories that he knew would be edited out. Some of them appear in this riveting account that was first published as a paperback called The American Revolution (2005). The new edition features many droll line drawings that suit the tone of the writing and source notes for the extensive quotes. Sheinkin clearly conveys the gravity of events during the Revolutionary period, but he also has the knack of bringing historical people to life and showing what was at stake for them as individuals as well as for the new nation. Often irreverent, the humor and informal tone of the writing help break through the patina of praise that too often encases figures from the American Revolution in books for young people. Vivid storytelling makes this an unusually readable history book. Grades 4-7. --Carolyn Phelan For middle-graders who find Joy Hakim's 11-volume A History of US just too daunting, historian Sheinkin offers a more digestible version of our country's story--opening with an account of the American Revolution from the despised but not-unreasonable Stamp Act to the dramatic race to Yorktown. Beneath breezy chapter subheads like "Revere and That Other Guy" and "Party at Fort Ti," the author expertly combines individual stories with sweeping looks at the larger picture--tucking in extracts from letters, memorable anecdotes, pithy characterizations ("...John Adams, well known lawyer, Patriot, and grump") and famous lines with a liberal hand. Except for a few cramped maps, Robinson's illustrations are all line-drawn cartoon portraits that echo the narrative's informality without adding much. Still, capped with a healthy "Whatever Happened To..." section, this animates the Revolution's times, events and people in a way that standard textbooks don't. A second volume on the Civil War, Two Miserable Presidents (ISBN: 978-1-59643-320-5-0), is also out. (index, adult-level source lists) (Nonfiction. 10-13) ( Kirkus Reviews ) Steve Sheinkin is the award-winning author of several fascinating books on American history, including The Notorious Benedict Arnold , which won the YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults, the Boston Globe/Horn Book Award for nonfiction, and received three starred reviews; and Bomb, a National Book Award finalist and recipient of five starred reviews. He lives in Saratoga Springs, NY. . Used Book in Good Condition