Abraham Lincoln

School Library Journal

Gr 5-8This series title suggests more suspense than this book delivers. While Ito's information is accurate, and the 48 archival photos and reproductions are of a consistently good quality, students probably won't flock to this book except for reports. Sidebars featuring ironic and tragic aspects of Lincoln's death are included to heighten interest. They are generally effective, but the presentation is not without sensationalism. Four pages, for example, are devoted to the theory that Andrew Johnson may have conspired to kill Lincoln, only for readers to learn that, "The fantastic stories of plots and counterplots that surfaced after the assassination naturally involved the vice president, too, but they are also devoid of substance." Readers are occasionally patronized in the way in which words are defined in parentheses: "That miserable inebriate (drunkard) Johnson, had cognizance (knowledge) of my husband's death." Despite these shortcomings, the discussion of the conspiracy theories surrounding Lincoln's death may be useful for reports.Leigh Ann Jones, Carroll Middle School, Southlake, TX