The Boston Massacre

Children's Literature

During the founding of a new nation known as America, many disturbing events occurred. Those living in the 13 original colonies thought of themselves as Colonists and not necessarily Americans. Animosity grew as the ruling country of Britain passed a number of laws that hurt the Colonists. Among those were the Sugar Act, the Stamp Act, and the Quartering Act. As the Quartering Act allowed, the Colonists were to provide food and lodging to the British soldiers sent to protect the Colonies. The Colonists' anger increased as laws and taxes were put upon them without representation. Finally, on March 5, 1770, a fight took place between the soldiers and civilian Bostonians. The result was the Boston Massacre, which left five people dead. This well-organized book relates the events leading up to the massacre in easy-to-understand terms. Five concise chapters broken into subtopics add relevant information to this time in history. Additional aid is given in the form of a map, sidebars, timeline, glossary and added sources. As part of the series "Let Freedom Ring," this book should be added to classrooms and libraries dealing with American history. 2002, Bridgestone Books/Capstone Press, $22.60. Ages 10 to 18. Reviewer: Nancy Garhan Attebury

School Library Journal

Gr 4-6-These two slim volumes present focused coverage of well-known incidents from American history. Both feature large print, wide margins, and colorful reproductions of period engravings, paintings, and documents, supplemented with photographs of objects or locations. Each book contains a brief but accurate description of the event being covered and sets it into a simplified context of the times. The books will be useful for report writers and should appeal to browsers interested in history. R. Conrad Stein's The Boston Tea Party (Children's, 1996) is a comparable title, and there are several other recent books on the subject for slightly younger children. Fewer titles are available on the Boston Massacre; Allison Stark Draper's The Boston Massacre (Rosen, 2000) is less informative than Ready's book and is poorly illustrated. Useful additions to materials on the American Revolution.- Elaine Fort Weischedel, Franklin Public Library, MA Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.