The Smart Aleck's Guide to American History

by Adam Selzer

Overview

Do you know America? No, I mean, do you REALLY know America? Would you recognize John Adams in a lineup? Can you identify any presidents between Lincoln and Roosevelt?

Hmmm. I thought so.

Well, you really need this book.

Not only will it improve your sorry historical knowledge, it will crack you up, and give you material to throw your teachers off-balance for entire class periods. Identify their lies! Point out their half-truths! And possibly, just possibly, gain some extra credit for yourself.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780375895937
Publisher:	Random House Children's Books
Publication date:	12/22/2009
Sold by:	Random House
Format:	eBook
Pages:	336
File size:	16 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	9 - 12 Years

About the Author

Adam Selzer is the author of How to Get Suspended and Influence People. He grew up in the suburbs of Des Moines and now lives in downtown Chicago, where he can write in a different coffee shop every day without even leaving his neighborhood. In addition to his work as a tour guide and assistant ghostbuster (really), he moonlights as a rock star. Check him out on the Web at www.adamselzer.com.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

Chapter 1 The Earliest American Settlers: Brave, Bold, and Rich In Minerals 4

Chapter 2 The Colonists are Revolting 30

Chapter 3 A Nation Declines to Bathe 62

Chapter 4 The civil war: America's Changing Body 95

Chapter 5 The Gilded age (Or, Screw the Poor!) 132

Chapter 6 World war I: "The War to End All Wars" 163

Chapter 7 The Roaring Twenties 180

Chapter 8 The Depressing Thirties 199

Chapter 9 World war II (Out of...?) 214

Chapter 10 1947-89: The "We Didn't Start the Fire" Era 238

Chapter 11 And on into the future 308

The End 321

Index 323

Editorial Reviews

Gr 8 Up—In the style of acclaimed writers Jon Stewart (The Daily Show) and Steven Colbert (The Colbert Report), this witty, comedic, and appealing volume abandons the world of historical dates and battles to fill in some of the gaps in young Americans' knowledge of their country's history. Readers learn of General Washington's rebellion against the "basic rules of boating safety" as well as encounter James K. Polk's mullet ("Business up front, party in the back, baby.") while benefiting greatly from the book's efficient presentation of pivotal themes and events such as the American Revolution, Civil War, and Civil Rights Movement. This clever and informative work follows a chronological arrangement from early exploration to the inauguration of President Barack Obama in January 2009. Each chapter concludes with a "Some of the Stuff We Missed" section, essay questions such as "Who was the bigger jerk, Hitler or Stalin?"; vocabulary words; and multiple choice "End-of-Chapter Questions" that range from "What do you think happened to those Croatoan guys—and what gave you that idea?" to "What Civil War guy had the best nickname?" Small black-and-white photos and reproductions appear throughout. The companion Web site contains supplemental information, links to relevant documents and other sites, and "Assignment Alerts!" for further exploration. This informal approach is sure to appeal to even the most reluctant of readers.—Brian Odom, Pelham Public Library, AL

School Library Journal

Written by "a bunch of comedians who snuck into being historians through the back door," this irreverent guide to American history takes readers from the earliest days of settlement to the presidency of Barack Obama. Students are encouraged to be smart alecks and not listen to anything teachers or historians say about history, since they are "probably wrong about lots of stuff." Why readers should listen to the Smart Aleck Staff instead isn't answered, except that their volume is more fun to read than a typical textbook. The flippant tone, mock quiz and essay questions and silly categories of information-such as "Stupid Hats from History" and "The Puritans: Boring Guys with Exciting Sex Lives"-are sure to appeal to the surliest of high-school students. Numerous sidebars, reproductions of paintings, engravings and photographs and even a recipe for making mustard gas keep the text from becoming dull, and students may find that they have learned a lot of history along the way. They just won't know if the Smart Alecks have been as wrong about lots of stuff as the teachers and historians they disparage, as they are far too cool to include anything like, say, a bibliography. (Nonfiction. 12 & up)

Kirkus Reviews