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Big Bad Ironclad!

a Civil War Steamship Showdown
Nov 19, 2016skyekilaen rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
Nathan Hale was a soldier and spy during the U.S. Revolutionary War who was executed by the British in 1776. Nathan Hale is (also) an author and cartoonist who was born in 1976, and who wrote and illustrated this book. The story begins on September 22, 1976, as the spy Hale is about to be executed by hanging. However, it's revealed that he was (at some point) swallowed by a giant history book and has mystical powers of telling the future. So he's granted a stay of execution to tell his captors a story about the Civil War. I know it sounds completely bizarre. And honestly I find the whole impending execution part somewhat distressing. If he'd been hanged at the end, I wouldn't be recommending this for children! Instead, he's asked for another story, allowing the reader the fiction that he could keep going forever. And the stories he tells are hilarious. The personalities Hale depicts for so many of these historical figures are probably way over the top, but it makes the stories entertaining and compelling. Even if you have no interest in Civil War history, give this a whirl.