Customer Reviews

Strange But True, America: Weird Tales from All 50 States

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Let me state right off, this is the most informative, interesting book I have read so far this year, and I mean that. In this wonderful read we are given trivia and history that is not usually known by many covering our 50 states. I was totally amazed at what I read and began to share it with everyone in my household. Of course then I had to battle to get the book back to continue my read. Go figure!

Since I live in the state of Florida I wanted to read what was written about my state first. I never knew that several hours away from me there was found an entire civilization buried, one dating over 7,000 years ago. This story was amazing, one I can't wait to share with other Floridians, whom I am sure do not know that fact either.

Besides finding out fun facts about each of our states, events and people relating to the states, the author has dedicated an entire section to what he calls, "Thumbing Through America's Weird Past." Here you will find interesting facts such as: Why JFK should not have received a Pulitzer Prize for his book, Profiles in Courage. Why Florida really should be called " The Partly Cloudy State," and which states truly have earned the title of , "The Sunshine State." And how about finding out how many times Doomsday almost hit America and the where and how's of how it almost happened and what stopped it. Exceptional!

I'm telling you, young and old will be absolutely absorbed in this book. Besides all the information we have top-notch illustrations that definitely help you to envision what you are reading. Here is a book that will hold your interest from beginning to end and will give you hours of fun, useful information that everyone is sure to find astounding. You will say over and over again, I never knew that, Why, that's amazing! Who would have ever known! Truly It is a book like none other, written in a lighthearted interesting way, it is a true treasure of a read, and well worth your consideration. I give it my highest recommendation. Well done!

I don't know how strange some of the facts/trivia in this books are. Interesting, yes, but not that strange. There are facts and quirky trivia about each state in the U.S.A. Each gets it own page, sometimes more then one, and one page of drawings. The drawings fit well with each each tale. There are even postcards you can collect for each state that feature the drawings and some of the interesting trivia. I enjoyed it, laughed out loud at times and shared some of the factoids with my husband.

This book is certainly one of the most unique books I've read recently-- with it's freaky facts from all 50 states. If you're looking for an evening of fun reading, you will find it here. It's also a book you can put down and pick up again as time allows.

If you want some interesting tidbits to share with friends and family, this is just the book to read. Each chapter is short, but full of punch! It would make the perfect gift for a history enthusiast, too. A fascinating read.

"Strange But True, America: Weird Tales from All 50 States" is a fascinating book. It took me a long time to read this book. I am a real history buff and I am also a former school librarian. I found myself reading a story and then spending the next half hour on the Internet doing research and trying to find out more information about the story that I just read.

John Hafnor set out to find the 50 strangest American stories - one for each state. He figured there must be at least one enormously entertaining historical tale from each state. Mr. Haftnor discovered many historical stories that are truly stranger than fiction.

Since I live in Texas, I especially enjoyed the story, "True Tale Tops Sleepy Hollow Legend". It tells how Vidal, a famous horse thief in the 1800s, was captured by the Texas Rangers and beheaded by Ranger "Big Foot" Wallace. His body, with the head loosely attached, was tied to a wild stallion and was seen by many cowboys roaming the countryside.

Dale Crawford, the illustrator, did a wonderful job making the stories in this book come to life.

This book is appropriate for all ages. I think students in upper elementary grades all the way through college will enjoy reading this book. This book would be very beneficial to use as a supplement to history curriculums in school. A teacher could read one story a day and encourage students to do some research on their own to find more information.

The only criticism that I have of this book is that I noticed a few typos and spelling errors. These were very minor and do not take away from the quality of the book.

I suggest that you take a look at the "Strange But True, America" ([...]) web site. The site includes a very interesting video where the author tells about some of the stories in the book.

I know this book is out of my normal areas of reading but when I saw the book blurb I couldn't resist. There were quite a few little tidbits that cracked me up. The first half of the book goes state by state and talks about some sort of interesting story that not everyone might know about. The second half covers a mix of shorter tidbits from various states (I notice the East and South have a lot of these, maybe since they are the oldest states?). Some of my favorites were did you know at one time there were wild camels in America? That made me laugh and I couldn't believe it. I also find things like the "bog people", extremely well preserved bodies from ages ago found in peat bogs in Europe, interesting and I was amazed to find we had our own discoveries in Florida. I don't want to spoil the book so just my last favorite was about a young girl who was sent via the mail to visit her grandmother. Can you imagine that? If you find things like this interesting this is a great book to check out.

There are two things that can get me as excited as a kid; trivia and history. Yesterday I received the book Strange but true, America weird tales from all 50 states yesterday and by this afternoon I was done reading it. Thanks Lone Pine Publications for putting out such a fun book and sending a copy to me.

This is a must have book for all American history lovers, not to mention those who love American trivia. The book is broken down by state. The reader can pick and chose which stories to read as each piece or article is written as if it came from a newspaper column. I found it fun to jump around reading about Native Americans, then our presidents and finally about some of our more colorful American citizens. My favorite piece is titled Skull `speaks' of prehistoric kindness. In this article the reader is told of some 9,000 year old skulls found with their brains intact. The DNA evidence shows there is no connection to present day Native Americans. Why haven't we heard about this in the news? I find it terribly fascinating.

Towards the back of the book there are very short trivia pieces that are as fascinating as the longer articles. Did you know several planes carrying nuclear missiles have crashed on American soil? Look under the heading When Doomsday came calling to your state to find out when and where this has happened.

This book will surely please those who love the Uncle John's trivia books. I have several relatives on my holiday gift list who do. This is the book they will receive instead.

Strange But True, America is not your typical compilation of "weird" or unusual stories. Many books of this ilk are only interesting if there is some direct connection to the reader. Not so with John Hafnor's entertaining book of strange tales that highlights each of the 50 states.

The reader will quickly discover that after initially reading the story from their favorite state, any one of the others may be of equal or greater interest. The accounts are not only fascinating but based in historical fact. Hafnor uses only one or two pages to weave each individual tale, but that's all he needs to fulfill his mission of "selecting the most compelling tale from your home state...and every state." The vignettes are cleverly supplemented with an illustration by Dale Crawford that neatly augments the narratives.

You can read about an underground mine fire in Pennsylvania that caused almost an entire town to uproot their families and flee their homes. How about the legend of Poker Jim in North Dakota where he "literally dropped in on a game after his death!" Or what could be the connection between "Easy Eddie," a certain pal of Al Capone, and how O'Hare International Airport got its name?

And when you're through devouring these, you can turn to the section entitled, Thumbing Through America's Weird Past, for pages of other little known facts of our country's history.

The book is an easy and lively read that will appeal to folks of all ages and varying interests. Read it cover to cover or when the mood strikes. Regardless, it will not disappoint.

Reviewer: Gene Berger

I found Strange, But True America to be a fun read. I enjoyed the interesting facts inside of this book, the different facts were fascinating. I couldn't help to think that this book would be perfect for the coffee table, or even a classroom if you want to get students to read. I really enjoyed the sketches inside of the book as it added a lot to the book. I found many of these tales in this book to be entertaining, and facts that you don't often hear in history books. Strange, But True America is the perfect book for the curious. If you have young people in the house, people who enjoy history, or even if you want to be entertained for a few hours, this is the perfect book for you to pick up.

Did you know that sometime around 1914 a 4-year-old girl living in Idaho was mailed to her grandma's house to save train fare? Or that camels once roamed the deserts of Arizona? What about the atom bomb that was accidentally dropped near Albuquerque in 1957? All of these "strange but true" facts can be found in a book that is part of the Strange But True series, Strange But True, America.

Written by John Hafnor and featuring illustrations by Dale Crawford, Strange But True, America features little known tales from all 50 states. The story from Louisiana, where I grew up, is about a giant logjam on the Red River that lasted for centuries. I already knew some details of that story, yet the details Hafnor weaves in made it even more interesting than I even realized. And the tale from Oregon, where I live now, is about Nike founders Phil Knight and Bill Bowerman. Again, I knew some of the details, but not the whole story presented in the book.

Other strange tales are highlighted in the back of the book, in sections about bombs and missiles accidentally going off in quite a few states and short tidbits from all around the country, such as the football game that inspired our first cheerleader and the eagle that was sent to encourage Civil War troops because his owner wasn't able to fight.

Mother-daughter book club members can have fun identifying their favorite stories while learning something about the history of every state. Hafnor also provides a few more tales at his website, [...]. You can also get individual, collectible postcards for each state. Those may be fun to collect or send to friends and family who live in other parts of the country. I recommend it for girls aged 10 and up.

As a copywriter, I'm always looking for a book that will either inspire me or help to bring me brilliant ideas. When I was sent this book to review, I found it great for the latter. For example, I found out about a town in Kansas (my home state) that I'd never heard of. It was a really intriguing story and I found I was able to create an entire new story line around it.

Perhaps this wouldn't be your use of the book. But I promise you, you'll find lots of really unique and strange - yet true - stories in here. Each one takes no more than a page or two. A really fun book.

Highly recommended.

- Susanna K. Hutcheson