Kids of the Bicentennial, Authors of the Semiquincentennial
I’ve been on the road with my wife Denise Kiernan as she visits bookstores and promotes her new book, Obstinate Daughters, about the women behind the American Revolution. The experience of being on the road together to sell copies of a RevWar book brought back a ton of memories—going as far back as childhood. “I have been here before, and before, and before,” is all I keep thinking. Why? In 1976, I was celebrating another national birthday. And about 20 years ago, Denise and I were on the road visiting historic sites in order to do live events for our books about the Signers of the Declaration of Independence and US Constitution.
I am writing about this topic today for the mystery blog, SleuthSayers. The post is entitled:
I hope you’ll stop by. Here is part of what I’m saying:
American patriotism and jingoism are fraught with problems because so much of it is driven by the stories we learned in childhood. What appears in school curricula are the easy facts we know will entice kids and keep them engaged in the story. It’s also what will mollify schools and parents. What is not ever said is that we hope that children will check back in when they’re old enough to learn the fuller story, whatever it is, for better or worse.
Unless that kid grows up to be a dedicated reader, their knowledge of the past will remain stuck at the grade-school level.
The founders expected that citizens would stay informed. But even they would probably not have expected voters to be devoted readers of multi-volume works of history. In their day, the average citizen got the news via word of mouth, public readings, broadsides, and newspapers. And yes, there was just as much propaganda then as now.
I mention a few children’s books in the piece that might be of interest. All three are linked to the Revolutionary War: Ben and Me (the story of Ben Franklin as told by his mouse); Mr. Revere and I (told by his horse!); and Poor Richard in France (told by Ben’s grandson). (all affiliate links).
Click to check out one of the books. (affiliate link).
All together, our household has produced three books about the Revolutionary War. Not an insignificant achievement. But what’s fun is getting emails from people each Fourth of July who are just discovering the books now. That’s fun. Never gets old.
The latest book in our output is Denise’s new book about the women of the American Revolution. I hope you’ll check it out.
Clicky, clicky, Yankee Doodle Dandy!
TWO WAYS TO GET THE BOOK:
Unless Denise is coming to a bookstore near you, the best way to get a signed copy is to order from Malaprop’s, the indie bookstore in our hometown of Asheville, North Carolina. They are a great small business, and they have been delivering Denise’s books to happy customers for something like 15 years without a hitch. So you can’t go wrong. If you think you would like the book inscribed a certain way to a friend or family member, I personally, recommend phoning the store to make sure they have all those details down correctly.
HAVE YOU SEEN THE NEW OBSTINATE DAUGHTERS T-SHIRTS?
Yes, we went there! We’re selling cool new “Obstinate” shirts at our new Joe & Denise store. Eight different designs, and ton of different colors. I’ll talk about the store some other time, but suffice to say, you won’t want to miss what we’ve got going on over there.
Click the shirt to learn more!
