"The President Has Been Shot!": The Assassination of John F. Kennedy

by James L. Swanson Narrated by Will Patton

Overview

A breathtaking and dramatic account of the JFK assassination by the New York Times bestselling author. Swanson transports listeners back to one of the most shocking, sad, and terrifying events in American history.

As he did in his best-selling Chasing Lincoln's Killer, he deploys his signature "you are there" style to tell the story of the JFK assassination as it has never been told before.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly - Audio

11/18/2013
Will Patton turns in a winning performance in this audio edition of Swanson's YA history of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The author presents a thorough and gripping account of the assassination of the 35th president of the United States, covering everything from Kennedy's early years and the Cuban Missile Crisis to a detailed account of the terrible events that took place in Dallas on Friday, November 22, 1963. Patton's reading is clean, well paced, and demands listener attention from the very beginning. The narrator's voice has an edge to it—one that hints at the tragedy that is soon to befall Kennedy—and Patton wisely refrains from doing an impression of JFK when reading lines from the president's famous speeches. This audiobook will serve young listeners as an excellent introduction to one of the saddest chapters in American history. A Scholastic hardcover. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

★ 09/02/2013
Swanson brings the same immediacy and thrillerlike tension he achieved in Chasing Lincoln’s Killer to this harrowing account of the Kennedy assassination (an adult version, End of Days, will be published later this year). As the subtitle suggests, Swanson concentrates on the buildup to and aftermath of the Dallas shooting on November 22, 1963. After a quick overview of Kennedy’s ascent to and first years in office (including the Bay of Pigs and the Space Race), he shifts between Kennedy and Lee Harvey Oswald in the days before and after the assassination. Swanson doesn’t avoid the horrific details of the shooting, and he’s open about the failings of well-meaning officials and staffers in the wake of the shooting. There’s no danger of uncovering any sympathy for Oswald, painted by Swanson as “a complaining, self-pitying, attention-seeking, temperamental, impoverished idealogue.” The book’s meticulous design incorporates numerous diagrams and b&w period photographs, and extensive source notes back up Swanson’s work. Even the simple decision to title the book’s chapters by date emphasizes how, in the span of just a few days, America changed irrevocably. Ages 12–up. Agent: Richard Abate, 3 Arts Entertainment. (Oct.)

From the Publisher

Praise for "The President Has Been Shot!": The Assassination of John F. Kennedy

A YALSA-ALA Excellence in Young Adult Nonfiction Award Finalist

"Archival photographs, explicit diagrams of the assassination scene, source notes, and a bibliography that includes conspiracy-focused literature add further value to this strong addition to Kennedy titles." —Booklist

"Swanson brings the same immediacy and thrillerlike tension he achieved in Chasing Lincoln's Killer to this harrowing account of the Kennedy assassination."—Publishers Weekly

Praise for Chasing Lincoln's Killer

An ALA Best Books for Young Adults

BOOKLIST Notable Children's Book

Recommended as one of the top children's books about Lincoln by American History Magazine

* "The YA version of Swanson's bestselling MANHUNT this account of Lincoln's assassination and the twelve-day search for his killer reads like a historical thriller. . . . Abundant period photographs and documents enhance the book's immediacy."—Publishers Weekly, starred review

* "Divided into fourteen chapters and an epilogue, the sentences are shorter and chapters are condensed from the original but the rich details and suspense are ever present, . . . It is a tale of intrigue and an engrossing mystery. With the approaching bicentennial of Lincoln's birth, this is a most welcome addition to all libraries."—School Library Journal, starred review

School Library Journal - Audio

12/01/2013
Gr 7 Up—Marking the 50th anniversary of President Kennedy's assassination in November 1963, Swanson's compelling book (Scholastic, 2013) combines riveting narration by Will Patton with excerpts from Kennedy's speeches. Listeners learn about the president's early life, family background, his heroic service during World War II, and his time in the House and the Senate. After narrowly defeating Richard Nixon in 1960, JFK moved into the Oval Office and was tested by the Bay of Pigs invasion and the Cuban Missile Crisis. By fall of 1963, Kennedy had finally hit his stride and grown into the office. Ready to start campaigning for his 1964 re-election, Kennedy planned his fateful trip to Dallas. Swanson and Patton keep listeners on the edge of their seats with minute-by-minute details about the motorcade's route through Dallas and Lee Harvey Oswald's perch atop the Texas Schoolbook Depository. Though most listeners will already know the sad outcome, it's almost impossible to stop listening to Patton lay it out. A masterfully told piece of history.—Bernie Morrissey, The Harker School, San Jose, CA

OCTOBER 2013 - AudioFile

Riveting. Young adult listeners will learn a lot from Swanson’s overview of John F. Kennedy’s early years, election, and administration—as well as from his minute-by-minute account of Kennedy’s assassination in Dallas in November 1963. Will Patton is purposeful and precise as he narrates. With the you-are-there style, listeners ride in Kennedy’s limousine, look down from the Texas School Book Depository, move through the halls of the Dallas police station, fly with the shocked and grief-stricken entourage in Air Force One, and walk with the funeral cortege. With brisk and urgent pacing, Patton voices each factual nugget and lets it hang momentarily before pressing on to the next. Other features include audio excerpts from Kennedy’s inaugural speech and a list of landmarks listeners may want to visit. A.R. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2013, Portland, Maine

Kirkus Reviews

2013-09-01
Readers coming cold to this book about the assassination of John F. Kennedy will learn a great deal about the crime but much less about the man who died. Swanson devotes a scant 20 pages to the issues that dominated Kennedy's presidency before describing "the Kennedy mystique." In his telling, John F. and Jacqueline Kennedy come through as very human figures (albeit ones without weaknesses), who cast a bright light on national, global and political landscapes. His telling is almost hagiographic. The assassination and its aftermath occupy the heart of the book, the writing often straining to pull at heartstrings. This is particularly evident when describing Jackie Kennedy's actions before and during the funeral. Of course she was bereft--but strong enough to plan the entire observance down to the eternal flame on the grave. As for Lee Harvey Oswald, Swanson asks many gratuitous questions about what made him kill before admitting that neither he nor others know. Why ask? In the epilogue, Swanson waxes purple, stating that "Oswald struck from the shadows. Then he robbed us of the rest of the story." Well, what about Jack Ruby? Although the narrative verges on mythmaking, the many, many photographs and diagrams give the volume some value. Readers wishing for a more restrained, neutral, journalistic treatment should stick with Wilborn Hampton's Kennedy Assassinated: The World Mourns (1997). (source notes, further reading, bibliography) (Nonfiction. 10-14)

Product Details

BN ID:	2940170507115
Publisher:	Scholastic, Inc.
Publication date:	10/01/2013
Edition description:	Unabridged
Age Range:	12 - 17 Years

Read an Excerpt

"The president was running late. The handshaking at Love Field, plus the two stops for the clever children and the admiring nuns, had put him at least five or ten minutes behind schedule. Oswald waited by the window. Whenever his eyes searched Houston Street for the first signs of the motorcade, he was careful to not hold the rifle high in his hands. Someone on the ground might see him and warn the authorities.Finally, the police motorcycles, their red lights flashing, and trailed by the lead car carrying the Dallas chief of police, reached the corner of Main and Houston and then turned right onto Houston. The Texas School Book Depository stood one block ahead. Oswald saw the motorcycles first. Then he saw the police chief's white car. Then he spotted what he had been waiting for—the big, gleaming, midnight-blue limousine carrying the president of the United States. And from the moment Oswald saw that car turn onto Houston Street, he knew with 100 percent certainty that one of its six occupants had to be John F. Kennedy. If Oswald fixed his gaze on the car, he must have noticed in the distance what appeared to be an unusually bright pinpoint of color toward the rear of the vehicle. It was Jacqueline Kennedy, her pink suit and pill box hat glowing like a signal beacon. And right next to her sat the president."

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