The War Of 1812 by Katie Marsico is a young readers’ non-fiction survey of the second war for American freedom. When I first picked up the book, with the title in bold white letters and the cover illustration of two nineteenth century warships locked in combat, it perked my interest and set the tone for what I expected to find in the text. Thumbing through the book, I found the font to be easy to read with all pages outlined to appear as aged paper or parchment lending to the timeframe of the historic content. After reading, this book fits easily into the category of a survey and possesses every element of the characteristics as defined by Bamford and Kristo in Checking Out Nonfiction. I will discuss the introduction, main topic and subtopics, broad information, and illustrations in detail.
The only information stating the author’s qualifications are found on the last page. A short paragraph vaguely details that Marsico has written more than 50 children’s books, worked as a managing editor and freelance writer, and lives with her family in Chicago. Nothing is noted about her formal education and training or her expertise to write a book on American history.
I found very little in the reading that needed a determination between fact and opinion based distinctions. I was not surprised by this knowing that exhaustive works have been published on this subject, but found one interesting exception. Marsico notes in a side text block in the last chapter that the War of 1812 arguably has little significance to British history. Curious, I spoke with a close English friend of more than 20 years. “A minor trifle during the early 19th Century” is how he described it with a light chuckle.
I did find some use of generalizations throughout the book with regard to geographical locations or regions and incidents or actions significant to the outcome of the war. However, this did not detract from the content or subject matter understanding that the purpose of the book is to provide young readers with basic knowledge of the War of 1812. I found no sensationalism in the reading and nothing in the illustrations gave an unnecessary glimpse into the ugliness of war. Marsico described British and American forces with fact based detail and did not include bias or any form of stereotyping when writing about either side. Historic and significant figures were not described with any anthropomorphism to appear larger than life or accomplishing superhuman feats. Just the opposite may be said when reading about Andrew Jackson. Marsico paints a fact based picture about the general, and later the president, that is unflattering with reference to his treatment of Native Americans.
The content of the book is what I had expected to find in a text of this nature geared for young readers, from 4th to 6th grade. The scope is fairly broad with reference to the war and surrounding incidents and makes additional references with interesting facts included in side text blocks. The depth is adequate without delving too deep, which would have resulted in a much longer text and would not have been able to hold a young reader’s interest. The focus is certainly on the War of 1812 but I enjoyed minor topics such as the history of our national anthem from when it was composed to when it was officially observed over one hundred years later.
Considering style in this book, I found the clarity to be to be what I had expected for a text of this type. Careful organization will bring readers from the start of the war to the end without grasping at details and without having difficulty understanding how the events contributed to the outcome. The language used to write this book should be easily understandable for a younger reader without significant time spent on definitions or vocabulary. A minor exception to this is the side text blocks. The language used in these is a bit more complex and of much smaller print. I believe the author may be trying to use this as an avenue for a teacher to further expound and stimulate conversation among the class to instill and assess a thorough understanding. I also enjoyed a bit of fun and colorful wordplay throughout. “Foggy bayous and soggy marshes” are the words Marsico used to poetically describe the Louisiana landscape that evokes an accurate image for young readers. The book achieved my background expectations as a short historic survey after seeing the cover and title, and I was not disappointed. I found the tone of the book to be fairly conversational and neutral, as I had hoped, and found nothing condescending to the target audience. I assume the author is American, as nothing suggests otherwise, but maintains a fact based writing style without any overt hint partisanship.
The organization of this book is very effective. I appreciated that the first chapter incorporates pieces of a “Backward Learning” technique that lends to the overall outcome of the war. I believe this is a hook that is intended to grab a young reader and inspire interest to the details of the subject matter. The remainder of the text is organized in chronological order to bring you through the war from start to finish in a narrative, story-telling manner. The chapters are of sufficient length to be able to form a lesson plan around the key point without trying to force too much subject content in at one time. Any more would muddle the reading and most likely detract from a young reader’s interest. The table of contents includes the nine chapters which are titled appropriately to highlight the main topic of each. A sufficient index and glossary are included as are a timeline and source notes. I appreciated the timeline with a short summary of significant events and small illustrations to help establish an order to the text. I feel that the source notes for each chapter, selected bibliography, and further reading noted could inspire interest to further explore the subject matter and lent an additional sense of the authority to the author’s qualifications which are vague in her biography.
I thoroughly enjoyed the format of this book. From the title and cover to the appearance of the pages, which I have previously mentioned. The illustrations are mostly images of period paintings and portraits which depict scenes and figures of the time. The maps included are colorful and easy to comprehend. The one photograph in the book shows the USS Constitution at anchor in present day Boston Harbor. All graphic media is included to visually aid the present subject matter and takes up approximately half a page each.
As a secondary social sciences teacher I would certainly use this text in a sixth grade class when discussing the War of 1812. The chapters are organized appropriately for in-class reading and group discussion without the need of individual copies for each student. I would personally read and elaborate on the side text blocks to stimulate discussion and provide additional information. This book could encapsulate the required study for the War of 1812 in a nice and neat little package.
While looking for additional books for young readers in the UNO Education Department library, I found ten other titles published from 1949 to 2008. I was very interested to find titles specific to Louisiana and referencing Jean Lafitte, however I found nothing that I would consider a survey specifically for the War of 1812. I would recommend adding this book to the collection for this purpose.
I had some difficulty finding any reviews for this book. It was published in 2011 and may be a bit new for extensive use or review. I did find an editorial review on Barnes and Noble that provided a brief summation of the book and commended Marsico for her skill in depicting historic events and figures. I also found a short review on Google where an unidentified critic questions Marsico assessment of certain aspects of the war with regard to win or loss and British involvement in other engagements having an effect on the outcome. I can understand the assessment from both authors with the second being a matter of opinion, however I found nothing in the book to detract what it is intended for, a survey of the War of 1812 for young readers. ( )