Henry Knox, Bookseller, Soldier, Patriot - Anita Silvey

Illustrated by Wendell Minor
Clarion Books, 2010, $17.99
40 pgs.
Rating: 4.5
Endpapers: Lt. Blue map bordered by smaller illustrations.
Illustrations: Acrylic on gessoed wood panels.

This biography made the American Revolution come alive for me, more so than anything I've read in recent memory. And since I've visited Fort Knox in Bucksport, Maine, many times and know of the U. S. gold bullion depository of the same name in Kentucky, the name was familiar. But I knew no particulars about the man. Now I do.

Anita Silvey has created an informative, interesting story. She uses primary sources
- including Knox's own journals and diaries - and seems to have researched extensively. This would be an excellent addition to a study of colonial America, the American Revolution, or a unit on biographies.

At 25, Henry Knox completed the seemingly impossible task of transporting a convoy of huge cannons 300 miles from Ft. Ticonderoga in New York to General Washington in Boston. It was the turning point in the defense of the city of Boston. And from that point onward, Knox appears to have become General Washington's right-hand man and advisor.

Also included are pieces of information on Knox's childhood and marriage (to a Tory!) that add interest.

At Ellis Island - Louise Peacock

A History in Many Voices
Illustrator: Walter Lyon Krudop
For: Grades 3-4
Published: 2007
Ratng: 3

Mixed feelings about this one. It has lots of information. There's a first person account in letter form. There's primary source material, illustrations and photographs - all good. But it's very confusing to read, even though different fonts are used to differentiate between the first person "story" account (in blue cursive) and a story line in a different font - red - that I finally figured out is a contemporary person's reflections as they look at the musem at Ellis Island, maintained by the Nationaal Park Service. Also on almost each two-page spread is some sort of primary source in the original handwriting, and photos along with the illustrations. But what do your read, in what order?

10-year old Sera Assidian has come by herself from Armenia. We discover that her mother has been killed and her father has sent for her. The story includes her experiences on the boat AND on her experiences on Ellis Island.