John Greenwood's Journey to Bunker Hill

History Speaks: Picture Books Plus Reader's Theater

by Marty Rhodes Figley, Craig Orback (Illustrator)

"In mid-May 1775, the American Revolution was barely a month old. Many British soldiers were in Boston, Massachusetts. The American troops were nearby. The next battle could break out at any moment. Fifteen-year-old John Greenwood's parents lived in Boston. But John lived with his uncle 150 miles away. When the war started, he decided to go back to Boston to check on his family. But when he arrived, the British soldiers wouldn't let anyone into the city. Instead John joined the American army and soon found himself at the Battle of Bunker Hill. Did John have the courage to make it through the battle? Could the Americans beat the powerful British? In the back of this book, you'll find a script and instructions for putting on a reader's theater performance of this adventure.

48 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2010

About the author

I have fond memories of summer visits to my grandparents in Hannibal, Missouri. Grandma and Grandpa Priests' grocery store featured a candy case chock full of wax lips, licorice sticks and jawbreakers. Grandma and Grandpa Rhodes' farm delighted me with cute, baby calves and garden-fresh corn on the cob. I love to write about ordinary children experiencing exciting events in our country's history. I hope that when young readers finish one of my books they realize that history is much more than facts and dates. It's filled with children's hopes and dreams.

Reviews

[Julianna Allen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This text would be placed under the genre of historical fiction as it describes the main character, John Greenwood, and his journey to find his mother in Boston during the American Revolution. In order to get to John's long lost family, he must travel 150 miles and enroll in the American army. This text was quite intriguing as well as heartwarming, and the ending was definitely a positive one.
I would implement this text in a fifth grade class as their social studies standards on the wars/battles of the U.S. directly align with this text. Using this text, I would have students analyze the events that took place throughout the American Revolution prior to reading this text. Students would have the opportunity to compare and contrast their own lives to the main character's. Another extremely effective way to implement this book into a lesson is to have the students engage in a reader's theater. At the end of the text it actually gives suggestions and tips on how to implement a reader's theater lesson, and I think that could be very fun for the students!
This was a WOW book for me because I think the author did a great job on explaining the struggles that people may have endured during this time. I personally do not remember much about this war, but this text definitely brought back some memories and realizations.

[Casey Godinez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Casey Godinez’s book Reviews > Journey to Bunker Hill by Marty Rhodes Figley is a well written historical fiction book. I liked how Figley used third person point of view to tell this historical story. You get the great story line of a character during this time while also receiving background information about the war and what was going on around the main character John. Figley wrote this book in a informal style. He used simple sentence structure that will help young readers understand the storyline. The story of John Greenwood is a great way for young readers to learn about the Battle at Bunker Hill while being entertained with the John’s journey to find his parents. I would recommend this book.