George Washington's Secret Six by Brian Kilmeade and Don Yaeger

This is a juvenile adaptation of an adult nonfiction title. As I've mentioned in previous posts, when I'm looking for nonfiction, specifically history, I look for more nuanced titles. I feel that by the time kids are reaching middle school they should have a good basic grasp of facts and can start exploring more complete pictures of time periods; seeing the good and bad sides of famous people, understanding the many dark parts of our history, and finding the forgotten and unknown stories of people who have historically been left out of the record.

Realistically, I had fourth graders in book club that were confused about George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, so a little more focus on basic facts are probably warranted. At the same time, regardless of how much previous knowledge of an historical event or personage a reader has, I feel that ages 9-12, the age generally covered by "middle grade" is old enough to realize that nobody is perfect and to see both sides of various issues.

Also, I personally dislike any adulation of individuals and my immediate instinct is to point out all the things that they did wrong. I am a fun person to take long to political rallies or any kind of inspirational speech (not really). All of this is to say that the author's note prefacing the book, talking about the greatness of American and the "lofty standards" of George Washington immediately rubbed me the wrong way and did not predispose me to appreciate the book.

The book itself is a brisk retelling of the formation and work of the Culpepper spy ring. I have not read the original, but this felt as though they chopped the sentences down for a younger audience and hence it did not read smoothly for me. It also was a lot of descriptive writing and narrating of events without much action and it's a complex series of events that readers who are not fluent, or familiar with the history, will probably not be able to finish.

Factually, the book is accurate and the retelling serviceable. There are extensive resources, explanations of how the Culpepper spy ring affected both immediate and later history, timelines, index, etc.

Verdict: So, what would be my final verdict on this? From a personal viewpoint, I did not care for it. I found it rather dry reading and, as I said, was predisposed to dislike the authors' narrow focus. From a library standpoint, I have many readers in the 9-12 age range who are big war and history fans and will be able to read this more dense title; generally speaking, many families prefer this more narrow view of history with a somewhat limited and adulatory view of the Founding Fathers. So, while it's not my preference, it is something that my patrons will want and which will be of use in my library. I would recommend it as a supplementary title to a more diverse history collection, especially if you have readers interested in this particular aspect of the American Revolution.

ISBN: 9780425288986; Published January 2019 by Viking; Review copy provided by publisher; Donated to the library