Big bad ironclad! A Civil War steamship showdown

Gr 3-8-One Dead Spy begins as Nathan Hale is about to be hanged. He was not a very good spy. But in the hands of Nathan Hale, the present-day graphic novelist, he makes an excellent narrator. American history is hilarious in these lively, rigorously researched, visually engaging stories. (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Nathan Hales Hazardous Tales: One Dead Spy by Nathan Hale; illus. by the authorIntermediate, Middle School Amulet /Abrams 128 pp.Readers interested in American history will enjoy these graphic novels, the start of a series by Rapunzels Revenge (rev. 11/08) and Calamity Jack (rev. 3/10) illustrator Nathan Hale. In One Dead Spy, Revolutionary War hero Nathan Hale (no relation to the books author, though he milks the joke to good effect) stalls his execution by thrillingly recounting his adventures to the bumbling hangman and a staid Redcoat jailor. Big Bad Ironclad! finds Hale narrating the Civil War naval battle between the Merrimac/Virginia and the Monitor. (A magical reference book that imparts its wisdom to Hale allows for the anachronism.) Comic panels of varying sizes enhance the real-life events and support the stories over-the-top humor. The pages are crowded, but the writing is accessible and entertaining; author Hales style gives readers an insider-y, you are there-type scoop. Budding historians will also appreciate the back matter, including brief biographies of the main players and (sort of) bibliographies. Ironclad includes a timeline, and Spy has an appended "mini-comic": "Crispus Attucks: First to Defy, First to Die!" dorcas hand(c) Copyright 2012. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Travel with Nathan Hale back to 1861 for the famous Civil War battle between the USS Monitor and the CSS Virginia, the war's first ironclad ships. Unless readers have read Hale's One Dead Spy (2012) first, they may well wonder why the famous spy Nathan Hale, hanged for espionage in 1776, is telling this future story of naval warfare during the Civil War. It turns out that Nathan Hale--the spy, not the author--was standing at the gallows when he was swallowed by a giant book of American history. He lives to tell about it and, presumably, other tales of America for future volumes of Hazardous Tales. This volume, completed prior to One Dead Spy, is a wild ride of a graphic novel, featuring not only Nathan Hale, but his hangman, a fox representing Gustavus Fox, Assistant Secretary of the Navy, and the various participants in the battle. Sketched, inked and colored in Photoshop, the two-color, frenetic volume succeeds in presenting the chaos of war. The backmatter is notable for its informative biographies of key players, a timeline, and a small but well-selected bibliography. Livelier than the typical history textbook but sillier than the many outstanding works on the Civil War available for young readers, this will appeal to both history buffs and graphic-novel enthusiasts. (Graphic historical fiction. 8-12)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.