A History of US: War, Terrible War: 1855-1865A History of US Book Six

A History of US #6

by Joy Hakim

Recommended by the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts and Literacy as an exemplary informational text.

Riveting, moving, and impossible to put down, War, Terrible War takes us into the heart of the Civil War, from the battle of Manassas to the battle of Gettysburg and on to the South's surrender at Appomattox Court House. Follow the common soldiers in blue and gray as they endure long marches, freezing winter camps, and the bloodiest battles ever fought on American soil. Off the war fields, War, Terrible War captures the passion and commitment of abolitionists and slaveowners alike in their fiery debates throughout the land. With profiles of Abraham Lincoln, Robert E. Lee, Ulysses S. Grant, John Brown, Harriet Tubman, Jefferson Davis, soldiers on both sides, slave owners, abolitionists, average citizens, and others, War, Terrible War is the compelling story of a people affected by the horrors of war during this tragic and dramatic period in A History of US.

About the
Master storyteller Joy Hakim has excited millions of young minds with the great drama of American history in her award-winning series A History of US. Recommended by the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts and Literacy as an exemplary informational text, A History of US weaves together exciting stories that bring American history to life. Hailed by reviewers, historians, educators, and parents for its exciting, thought-provoking narrative, the books have been recognized as a break-through tool in teaching history and critical reading skills to young people. In ten books that span from Prehistory to the 21st century, young people will never think of American history as boring again.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, School, Civil War, American History, Read For School, Historical

176 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

I've just updated A HISTORY OF US to include some new stories, especially those on people who haven't had their full story told, like Native Americans and African Americans. I've been astounded by some of what I've learned, I think you will be too.


My husband and I live most of the year in Colorado. I grew up in Rutland, Vermont and graduated from Rutland High School. I earned a bachelor's degree in government at Smith College, a master's degree in education from Goucher College, as well as an honorary doctorate from Goucher.

I've been a teacher: in Syracuse, New York; Omaha, Nebraska; and Virginia Beach, Virginia. And I've taught in elementary school, middle school, high school, and in a community college.

I've also been a newspaper woman: a general reporter, a business reporter, and an associate editor and editorial writer at Norfolk's Virginian-Pilot.

We have three children and five grandchildren.

from: http://www.joyhakim.com/biography.html

Reviews

[Scarlett Readz and Runz....Through Novel Time & Distance · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

This is the 6th book in the series that serves to show the journey of our history and it's people. It seems to fascinate and hold the attention of middle graders more so then I had anticipated. This may serve as a glance or broad overview without any burdensome weight or bore of history texts. Therefore, I'd only recommend it as such. It is an overview without delving into different matters too deeply. This is why it may resonate well for those beginning the study of American History an may wake an interest and desire to delve deeper into the materials. (That would be my hope for those I am reading it with :) )

[Kennedy Elder · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learned a lot in this book!

[The other John · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an account of the American Civil War. It could also be called an Abraham Lincoln love-fest. If Ms. Hakim had anything negative to say about him, it was lost in all the accolades and pro-North sentiments. As an Illinois Yankee, I wasn't too bothered by that. But I did recall that there are other viewpoints out there and that Mr. Lincoln is hardly without fault. (Fortunately my daughter's curriculum makes the effort to present the opposing viewpoint. Sometimes to the point where I have to question their bias.) Overall, the book is as enjoyable and informative as the rest of the History of US series--an excellent introduction to American History.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love to use these books as a broad overview to provide opportunity for my students to dig deeper into the subject using various sources. They are fun to read and connect well with middle school students by focusing on people and personal stories.

[Catherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ms. Hakim does a great job of giving a balanced account of the war (while slavery was terrible, the North was not blameless), without focusing too much on the individual battles.

[Josiah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book really shows just the cultural and political importance of the civil war, one of the darkest times in our nation’s history. It shows both sides perfectly and reminds readers that even though slavery is horrible, the north still had racial prejudices. Awesome book, I highly recommend!

[Lucas · Rating 5 out of 5]

:)

[Hank Pharis · Rating 2 out of 5]

Like the rest of this series a good overview/review. Always some things to learn For example, I didn't know that Sam Houston lost his seat in the Senate because he spoke out against slavery.

[Lilith Day · Rating 5 out of 5]

The civil war was a sad part of our history. The truth is, the US was fighting against itself and there is no easy way to teach it to our kids. However, this book makes it easy and understandable.

This book presents the civil war with a lot of facts and some details. The details are all easy for the kids to understand and ask questions as we go along.

I love that this book includes some pictures to help the kids along. The illustrations are great and not to detailed like some of the other books we have read. A great addition to any homeschool curriculum.

I received this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are mine and were in no way influenced by outside sources. I am a professional blogger at Little Lady Plays

[Marianne Robin-Tani · Rating 5 out of 5]

All wars are horrible, and the US Civil War was certainly one of the worst. Can people not learn that war is NEVER the answer? That there are many more humane, reasonable, and intelligent ways to solve conflicts without incurring the huge amounts of life, property, and resources that are destroyed during armed conflicts. We always reach some kind of resolution, treaty, and peace plan afterwards. Why not strive to achieve these things before fighting?

[Melanie Tillman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my favorite series on American History for my kids for homeschool. We don't always read the entire book, but this one we did for a four week study on The Civil War. The full color illustrations and photographs from the time period are what make this series the best I've used. My kids always hang on every word!

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book on the Civil War! I loved everything about this kid history book. It's the only textbook I cried over that the tears weren't because of gratitude. Excellent, excellent book. Can't wait to read the others!

[Beverly Hill · Rating 2 out of 5]

Roughly 1/2 of the print version.

Without the sidebars, photographs and charts with explanations, the kindle version of these books suffer greatly. It's a shame they decided to lop off over half the information in favor of an easy format. Will buy print versions in the future.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that Joy Hakim's favorite president is Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln takes on nearly god-like features in this book. I like Lincoln. I admire Lincoln. Lincoln is one of my favorite presidents. But even I know that Lincoln was human and had his flaws.

[Karin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I honestly was worried this was going to be a dry history book but was pleasantly surprised that it is not. I think it is a great book covering the Civil War for upper elementary to middle school aged students.

[Hannah Mozingo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this history book!

[Doris Raines · Rating 4 out of 5]

I LIKE THIS BOOK.

[Apzmarshl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome, well rounded history of the Civil War.

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

I highly recommend this whole series as a read aloud with kids. We all learned so much about the Civil War in such an engaging way.

[Bon Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was good. I learned a lot about the civil war.

[Big Jon]

It was very long and interesting. It was a full time line about the war, and got to every little detail.

[Sunny Kim]

I like this book because it talked about the Civil War and slavery

[Yz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this one for fun! Its got tons of good information and cool pictures.

[Kelli Terzian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this with my son as part of his homeschool curriculum. I did learn some new information.

[Colin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really excellent textbook series for American (U.S.) history - this is the Civil War volume . . .

[Kelly Evans · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a beautifully written piece about the Civil War and Abraham Lincoln.

[Tori · Rating 4 out of 5]

Continuing our dive into the Civil War. I appreciate Hakim trying to take all the complexity of both sides and not wish it away without swamping younger audiences.

[Jeannie N Sommers · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great easy to read book on the civil war. Although it is written as a children’s book, I found it not only easy to read, but very informative.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

So one of the problems of doing our own school is that there is so much cool stuff to study and I have to choose what we're going to cover. This is one of the best, concise books of Civil War history I have ever seen! It has 30 chapters, I could have done two chapters a week for a 15 week semester and had an entire semester class on the Civil War all by itself. This book plus a couple of books from the library would have given me enough material for an entire year studying the Civil War. If you ever find it in your library, or hey, it's not that expensive, read it! It will help you understand so much more of what was going on, you'll have faces to put with names, and a profound appreciation for how our country got to be where it is.

[Jenevieve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Middle-school history focusing on the Civil War. I still find her way of jumping around a bit disjointing but I think the presentation of the material worked better for this one than previous ones. It allowed the horror of the war to be told but she broke it up with other information to keep it from being overwhelming for the intended age group. There was a lot more information on the Generals and who they were both before and during the war which I think is good to show that none of these people were evil although the things that happen during a war certainly are but that they each thought they were trying to do the right thing for their side. I found it to be fairly balanced over all with lots of good information.