Lies My Teacher Told Me comes out on April 16th, 2024.
Woodrow Wilson. Abraham Lincoln. Christopher Columbus. Those are the names that stand out in American history classes—the people heroized for their actions, or their personality, or, when you really dig into it, just because they were part of the dominant class at the time. But who were they, really? And why are they the people we remember?
Lies My Teacher Told Me tells the stories left out of (or radically changed in) the usual American history textbook—and invites readers to reconsider what they’re learning by thinking about who’s telling this story, and what’s being omitted. From the ‘discovery’ of the Americas to the Civil Rights Movement and beyond, it analyzes the lies, embellishments, and omissions that characterize the typical US history curriculum and uses them to consider American society as a whole, and the beliefs this one-dimensional portrayal of history perpetrates.
As a fan of the original Lies My Teacher Told Me, I knew immediately when I saw this book that I had to read it. This graphic novel adaptation of the original (a nonfiction classic with the same premise) captures the core ideas, messages, and thoughts while streamlining it into something immensely readable, making it accessible to a whole new audience without losing any of the purpose.
This is probably the most text-heavy graphic novel I’ve read, which meant that it managed to include way more information in under 300 pages than I would’ve thought possible, while still taking advantage of the illustrations and handwriting styles to carry the reader more fluidly through the narrative. That said, although it’s an easy read, it’s not a quick one; I often read graphic novels in one or two sittings, but I found this one was better to read in smaller chunks (a chapter at a time, for example), so I was able to really consider what I’d read before plunging into the next section.
If you’re a history nerd, a graphic novel connoisseur, or just exasperated by your US history class, this is a book for you! I highly recommend Lies My Teacher Told Me: The Graphic Adaptation to readers ages twelve and up.
An e-ARC of this book was provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Woodrow Wilson. Abraham Lincoln. Christopher Columbus. Those are the names that stand out in American history classes—the people heroized for their actions, or their personality, or, when you really dig into it, just because they were part of the dominant class at the time. But who were they, really? And why are they the people we remember?
Lies My Teacher Told Me tells the stories left out of (or radically changed in) the usual American history textbook—and invites readers to reconsider what they’re learning by thinking about who’s telling this story, and what’s being omitted. From the ‘discovery’ of the Americas to the Civil Rights Movement and beyond, it analyzes the lies, embellishments, and omissions that characterize the typical US history curriculum and uses them to consider American society as a whole, and the beliefs this one-dimensional portrayal of history perpetrates.
As a fan of the original Lies My Teacher Told Me, I knew immediately when I saw this book that I had to read it. This graphic novel adaptation of the original (a nonfiction classic with the same premise) captures the core ideas, messages, and thoughts while streamlining it into something immensely readable, making it accessible to a whole new audience without losing any of the purpose.
This is probably the most text-heavy graphic novel I’ve read, which meant that it managed to include way more information in under 300 pages than I would’ve thought possible, while still taking advantage of the illustrations and handwriting styles to carry the reader more fluidly through the narrative. That said, although it’s an easy read, it’s not a quick one; I often read graphic novels in one or two sittings, but I found this one was better to read in smaller chunks (a chapter at a time, for example), so I was able to really consider what I’d read before plunging into the next section.
If you’re a history nerd, a graphic novel connoisseur, or just exasperated by your US history class, this is a book for you! I highly recommend Lies My Teacher Told Me: The Graphic Adaptation to readers ages twelve and up.
An e-ARC of this book was provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
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