Reviews

Abigail Adams, Pirate of the Caribbean by Steve Sheinkin, Neil Swaab

rkiladitis's review against another edition

3.0

From Steve Sheinkin, the man who brought you the Newbery Award-winning book, Bomb: The Race to Build - and Steal - the World's Most Dangerous Weapon, and National Book Award finalist Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War, comes... Abigail Adams: Pirate of the Caribbean. C'mon, I made you laugh. Steve Sheinkin shows his sillier side with his Mixed-Up History series; his first book in the series gave us Abraham Lincoln leaving history to become a professional wrestler. In this volume, Abigail Adams, sick and tired of hanging laundry in the White House, uses time traveling technology to take to the high seas as one of Calico Jack Rackham's crew. It's up to modern-day siblings Doc and Abby to fix history again and get Abigail back to her own time. It's not necessary to have read the first book in the series to jump in with Mixed-Up History; there's enough exposition to get readers caught up. Black and white illustrations and a quick-paced narrative make for some laugh-out-loud moments, usually at our second President's expense. Siblings Abby and Doc represent a blended family and Doc is a child of color. It's a fun read for intermediate readers that will get them acquainted with some big names in history, but really, this is just for kicks. A historical note from the author assures readers that no, this isn't something you can cite in a report. A good add to humor collections.

thebookishlibrarian's review against another edition

Consisting of letters to her older sister, P.S. I Miss You is a young girl’s plea for her sister to come home. The entire novel is told through letters that eleven-year-old Evie writes to her older sister Cilla, whose Catholic parents have sent her away to live with her great-aunt after discovering her pregnancy. When Evie realizes she has romantic feelings for her friend June, Evie could really use Cilla’s advice – if only she’d write back. Can Evie navigate the world without her sister at her side?

Thanks to School Library Journal for a review copy of the book.

realpageturner's review against another edition

3.0

This series has a similar feel as the Magic Tree House books. It is silly and will appeal to the young readers interested in reading about friends getting themselves in and out of trouble.

erine's review against another edition

3.0

I liked this more than I expected, but my expectations were super low. I appreciated that Sheinkin tried to untangle some of the historical knots at the end, but there was rather a lot to untangle. Somewhat similar to Time Warp Trio or Magic Treehouse.

I prefer his straight history, which I've always found fascinating, despite its lack of time travel and presidential wrestling.

adelas's review against another edition

3.0

As far as enjoyment goes, I really found this to be a two ("it was ok"). However, I know my kids would enjoy it more than I can... and the book gains a star for the impressive balancing act of meshing together two time periods while making clear which facts belong to each period.

maakbooks's review against another edition

3.0

I really enjoyed this book! I rated it a little lower, because I'm not 100% how differently to rate books meant for younger readers, so I rated in on my general scale. The other thing is that I didn't completely understand that this series was meant to be read in order, I thought it might be more of companion books, but it wasn't.
There are so many valuable things in this book for younger readers and this book made me want to do a lot more research on Abigail Adams. I also think that this book would be great for kids that like the Magic Tree House series, because these seem pretty similar.