A History of US: Book 3: From Colonies to Country 1735-1791 [Paperback]

Joy Hakim (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 9 and up | Series: History of Us

How did compliant colonials with strong ties to Europe get the notion to become an independent nation? Perhaps the seeds of liberty were planted in the 1735 historic courtroom battle for the freedom of the press. Or maybe the French and Indian War did it, when colonists were called "Americans" for the first time by the English, and the great English army proved itself not so formidable after all. But for sure when King George III started levying some heavy-handed taxes on the colonies, the break from the motherland was imminent. With such enthralling characters as George Washington, Sam Adams, Patrick Henry, Eliza Pinckney, and Alexander Hamilton throughout, From Colonies to Country is an amazing story of a nation-making transformation.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Joy Hakim is a former newspaper writer and editor and elementary school teacher who holds a bachelor's degree in government from Smith College and a master's degree in education from Goucher College.

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: 0195153243
• ISBN-13: 978-0195153248
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #723,281 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

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The engaging story of America gaining its independence, July 31, 2003

By 

Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: A History of US: Book 3: From Colonies to Country 1735-1791 (Paperback)

"From Colonies to Country: 1735-1791" is the third volume in Joy Hakim's "A History of US." This book begins with the British kicking the French out of North America and ends with the American colonists winning independence from the British. After a first chapter that establishes the principle of Freedom of the Press that would come to play a key part in not just the American Revolution but throughout the entire history of the United States, the rest of the book falls into four main sections. The first (Chapters 2-6) covers the transition as the English essentially kicked the French out of North America as a result of the French & Indian War. The second (Chapters 7-14) traces the growing dissent in the American colonies with British rule that ended in the Boston Massacre and the Battles of Lexington and Concord. The third (Chapters 15-31) details the Revolutionary War, including the writing and signing of the Declaration of Independence. The final section (Chapters 32-42) covers the means by which the thirteen colonies were turned into a country through the writing and adoption of the Constitution. The back of the book contains an extensive look at great documents including not only the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, but also the Virginia Statue for Religious Freedom. Hakim also talks about how to consider great documents (and stay awake while doing so). The Atlas this time around focuses on the question of how the politics of cartography comes into mapmaking.

There is a lot of information here presented in a way that will speak to young readers raised on computers and hooked on the Internet. There are features on topics of interest scattered throughout the book and the margins are filled with various definitions, mini-biographies, and various facts. I liked the way she included actual signatures from various signers of the Declaration of Independence. These volumes are richly illustrated with historic prints, paintings, etchings, and maps (as well as contemporary maps that are more historically accurate). Besides paying as much attention to the style of presentation as she does to the information being provided, Hakim plays the role of teacher throughout the volume, anticipating student questions and demanding they take the perspectives of the various parties involved in this history. I can see what those home school their children are enamored of this series, because she saves parents from having to doing the engaging. These books do it for them.

1.0 out of 5 stars Discrimination Against Children with Learning Disabilities, April 13, 2009

By 

Deborah Dewey "Debbie Dewey" (Texas) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A History of US: Book 3: From Colonies to Country 1735-1791 (Paperback)

I was reading page 52 to my daughter who has dyslexia:

"George wanted to be a good king. But to be a good king you need some wisdom, and George III didn't have much. He wasn't anywhere as smart as you are. When George was 10 he was just beginning to learn to read. He never read well. His mother was often heard saying to him, "Be a king, George." Maybe she realized that he wasn't made of kingly material."

My daughter who is almost 13 didn't start to read consistently until she was 10, and she doesn't read very well yet because she has a learning disability. HOW DO YOU THINK SHE FELT WHEN THIS TEXT WAS READ TO HER?

I would love to hear the author's response to this: does Ms. Hakim believe that the child who has difficulty reading is not as smart as the one who reading fluently?

This is abject discrimination and should be removed from future editions of this book.

5.0 out of 5 stars My daughter loves Joy Hakim's books!, January 27, 2009

By 

NYCPedestrian "sstinnyc" (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: A History of US: Book 3: From Colonies to Country 1735-1791 (Paperback)

My daughter was reading "The First Americans" in school & asked for more books by Joy Hakim for Christmas. Hakim writes history in a way that makes it relevant and interesting. All of her books in this series are excellent.