Rebels and Revolutions: Real Tales of Radical Change in America

Reviews

2018 Kansas State Reading Circle Award Winner - Recommended

Mother Daughter bookclub
“In Rebels and Revolutions, a title in the Mystery & Mayhem series, author Judy Dodge Cummings focuses on five people who “fought for their rights and changed history.” They include a young boy who fought in the American Revolution, slaves who took over a slave ship, Japanese Americans interned during World War II, a young girl who resisted Jim Crow laws in the South, and a champion of the rights of farm workers. Some are well known names, others are not.

Each vignette tells the background of the individuals, people who decided they no longer wanted to stay quiet when they saw injustice. Each faced the possibility of personal danger from people who wanted things to stay the way they were, but they acted anyway.

Cummings’s style makes learning history fun and relatable by focusing on the personal stories that made up the larger struggle that may be familiar to young readers. In her opening, she encourages readers to think about issues important to them when she says the stories “might inspire you to become a rebel for the right cause.” Rebels and Revolutions should appeal to both girls and boys; I recommend it for readers aged 9 to 13.”

The Old Schoolhouse Magazine
"Both of these books [Great Escapes: Real Tales of Harrowing Getaways and Rebels and Revolutions: Real Tales of Radical Change in America] brought a lot of hard times to light for my son. He didn't want to set them down. While I wanted to use these for history lessons, they disappeared for a time and when they came back to my desk, they were well loved and read. These were hard for me to set down and I loved that my son felt the same way.

I plan to revisit these stories one by one while we study each time period in our history studies and can focus on them more. However, having these written in a manner that my son fell in love with, means that he has a great introduction to our history. It may not all be good, but now he knows the struggles, the fights, the escapes the battle that it took to be free.

If your children love to read true stories and you want them to know more about our history, these books should be available to them! I look forward to adding the rest of the Mystery & Mayhem series to my shelf!" Read the complete review online.

Always in the Middle
"Non-fiction readers can rejoice with the release of the sixth book in the Mystery and Mayhem series. In Rebels and Revolutions read the true stories of five individuals who chose to rise up and fight injustice in America... Perfect for home or the classroom, I can't say it any better than what you'll find in Nomad's Press logo: BOOKS TO INSPIRE LEARNING. Riveting, adventurous stories provide the inspirational fuel for any middle grader and even some of us older middle graders!" Read the complete review online.