A History of US, Book 2: Making Thirteen Colonies (History of US) [Paperback]

Joy Hakim (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0195153227 | ISBN-13: 978-0195153224 | Publication Date: September 15, 2002 | Edition: 3

People are coming to America--all kinds of people. If you're European, you come in search of freedom or riches. If you're African, you come in chains. And what about the Indians, what is happening to them? Soon with the influx of so many people, thirteen unique colonies are born, each with its own story. Meet Pocahontas and John Smith in Jamestown. Join William Penn and the Quakers in Pennsylvania. Sit with the judges at the Salem witch trials. Hike over the mountains with Daniel Boone. And let Ben Franklin give you some salty advice in his Poor Richard's Almanac in this remarkable journey through the dynamic creation of what one day becomes the United States.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Gr. 4-8. The second volume in the History of US series recounts the settling of the original colonies, from the founding of Jamestown in 1607 to the opening of the Wilderness Road in 1775, which allowed settlers to traverse the Appalachian range and reach the interior of the continent. Hakim writes like a storyteller, relating seventeenth-century experiences to current events and drawing analogies that make the seventeenth-century happenings intelligible. The book is laid out in a way that dispels any notion that it is a textbook: virtually every page has an illustration; sidebars give anecdotal or supplementary information; and the typeface is a respectable size. Hakim deals with the colonies one at a time, documenting their founding, their type of government, and the principal occupations of the settlers before and after they came to the New World. She sometimes urges readers to insert themselves into a situation in order to better understand the experience. Having an author question or address the reader is frequently annoying, but Hakim's comments work. Black-and-white illustrations include photographs of vintage paintings and documents, maps, line drawings, and decorative elements. Time line; bibliography. Sheilamae O'Hara --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews

The second in Hakim's projected ten-volume ``A History of US'' (also available: The First Americans, ISBN 0-19-507745-8). The tone is notably informal, even jocular, but not at the expense of content. Focusing here on Jamestown, the New England Puritans, and the other European colonists, the author brings a formidable amount of illuminating detail to a lively narrative, makes valuable connections between past and present, introduces important concepts in their original context, shares a contagious enthusiasm for history's pivotal ideas, colorful characters, and their stories, distinguishes between documented fact and conjecture, and reiterates such thoughts as that--among imported ideas, as well as both settlers and Indians--``Some are good, some are not so good,'' with examples to prove it. Her careful depiction of the Native American point of view is remarkably evenhanded. The breezy style occasionally leads to imprecision (``the Pope...didn't approve of all that marrying. So King Henry founded the Church of England''), but generally the text is lucid, accurate, and extraordinarily immediate; questions addressed to the reader are genuinely stimulating and provocative. Sidebars and captions amplify the main text; the many period illustrations are often crisply reproduced, but sometimes reduced beyond clarity (the flimsy see-through paper doesn't help). In every sense, a fresh look at our history; Hakim's perceptive eye, no-nonsense approach, and wit are all welcome. Chronology; ``More Books to Read'' (from an Aliki biography to Miller's The Crucible); index. (Nonfiction. 10+) -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9 and up
  
• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; 3 edition (September 15, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195153227
• ISBN-13: 978-0195153224
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #811,651 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I started my career as an author with a ten-volume U.S. history: A History of US, published by Oxford University Press in 1993, and now in a third updated printing. I had no idea the history would end up in ten books, or that it would be so much fun to write.
A History of US has been awarded a bunch of prizes. David McCullough commented, ". . .the idea that history might ever be thought of as a chore has clearly never crossed her mind." In testimony before the Senate Education Committee he called the series "superb." People Magazine described me as "the J.K. Rowling of the history world." (Umm, that would be nice. But the books have sold 5 million copies.)
Mine are narrative history books that attempt to set literary standards. I mean for them to be exciting to read. They're meant for young readers, and their teachers and parents, or for anyone without a deep background in U.S. history. These are books that can be found in bookstores, on Amazon, and in schools. Oxford and Hopkins have done teaching materials for those who want to use the books in academic study.
That series was followed by: Freedom: A History of US (published in 2003), the companion to a 16-part PBS series of the same name that was narrated by Katie Couric, with voices by a host of Hollywood figures, from Tom Hanks to Robin Williams. The videos are available to schools from PBS. And the book spawned a terrific website: (www.pbs.org/wnet/historyofus).

I'm now writing The Story of Science. The first three books are jointly published by Smithsonian Books and the NSTA (National Science Teachers Association). They focus on the quest to understand the universe--from ancient Greece to today's expanding universe. The first volume is Aristotle Leads the Way; the second, Newton at the Center; the third book, Einstein Adds A New Dimension, attempts to explain quantum theory and relativity with black holes and space travel too. Writing in the New York Times, Natalie Angier called the books, "richly informative." Alan Alda raved. These books have won prizes too. Science writer Timothy Ferris said he wished he had them when he was a boy. Educators at Johns Hopkins and NSTA have developing coordinated teaching materials for classroom use (available from NSTA or Amazon).

I'm currently working on two books that put biology into a narrative framework.

Before I began writing books, I was an associate editor, editorial writer, and business writer for The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk's morning paper) and a general reporter and photographer on the staff of The Ledger-Star (Norfolk's afternoon paper. I did a whole lot of freelance writing while raising three kids. And I was an assistant editor of World News, a foreign news service at McGraw-Hill.

Writing and teaching seem to be two faces of the same need to explain things. Which may explain why I've had dual careers--as writer and teacher.

I've taught elementary school (Omaha, NE), high school English (Virginia Beach, VA), special education in a middle school (Syracuse, NY), and English composition and American literature at a community college (Virginia Beach). I initiated and taught a writing course for high school teachers of English through the University of Virginia.

I do a lot of speaking, especially to education groups. For three years I worked with a group of history teachers in Los Angeles under a TAH (Teaching American History) grant. I've spent some of my time in an inner-city school where most of the students speak Spanish at home and reading English doesn't come easily. I'll be speaking at Teachers College, Columbia in the fall of 2009 where reading guru, Lucy Calkins, has called my books the "gold standard" in the field.

As to my schooling: I earned a B.A. from Smith College after high school in Rutland, Vermont. Then I received a M.Ed. and an honorary doctorate from Goucher College. Smith gave me the Smith Medal (2000); the Matrix Foundation, the Edith Workman Award (2003); I've taken graduate courses in journalism and in geography at New York University, child psychology at Johns Hopkins, and courses in American history and science at Brown, Harvard, Cornell, and Cambridge University. My website is: joyhakim.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Clearly written - fun for all ages!, March 8, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: A History of US: Book 2: Making Thirteen Colonies (1600-1740) (Paperback)

Our two children are home-schooled, and as we have started collecting the newly issued quarters, the kids came up with lots of questions about them and the origins of each state. This book, along with its companion volumes has answered all our "coin questions" (unlike the Encyclopedia Britannica!) The book is written clearly and simply enough for my 6 year old to grasp, and interesting enough to hold the attention of the adults!

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exceptionally fine writer ... she makes kids love history!, January 4, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: A History of US: Book 2: Making Thirteen Colonies (A History of Us, 2) (Paperback)

I teach fifth grade in Eugene and have used her books for a number of years now. I love using trade books to teach about history but Joy's books give children a framework from which to consider whether the historical fiction they so love is well written and researched or not. She teaches right along with me in my classroom through her books - we even have a framed picture of this author on our wall along with pictures of Lincoln, Washington, Frederick Douglass, and Eleanor Roosevelt. Her style is crisp and kid-pleasing. She deals with big issues and with important ideas. Children - and teachers - want to read her books over and over again because there is always something new to learn, something interesting to rediscover.

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Detailed look at American History, March 10, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (Jackson, Wyoming) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A History of US: Book 2: Making Thirteen Colonies (A History of Us, 2) (Paperback)

As a homeschooling mother of a 5th grader I started using A History of US (vol 2) as a supplement to our standard text. It wasn't long before we abandoned the textbook.

Joy Hakim relates all the important events while sketching profiles of people you've heard of (and some you may not have heard of). She places events in historical context, discusses the development of ideas, quotes original sources, and defines outdated and difficult words. My criticism of the book is that she sometimes makes blanket statements that simplify the people of the time. For instance, concerning the Salem witch trials: "The leaders of the community, who might have done some thinking, didn't."

I like the short chapters that develop one topic, the range of people, places, and events (how many textbooks mention the Salem witch trials or Magna Carta?), and the use of direct quotes.

The book reads like a grandparent telling stories to a grandchild complete with answers to the child's questions and editorial comments. I guess grandparents are entitled to their opinions.

You won't cover as many years of American History in a set time with this series as you would with most textbooks, but you'll learn far more about the years you do cover.