L.M. Elliott to receive the 2018 Grateful American Book Prize for Suspect Red and an Honorable Mention for Hamilton and Peggy!

An Honorable Mention also goes to Teri Kanefield for her Making of America series biography of Andrew Jackson

WASHINGTON, DC, Sep 20 – The winner of the 2018 Grateful American Book Prize is L.M. Elliott, for her historical novel, Suspect Red, a look at McCarthyism and the Red Scare, published by Hyperion-Disney. She will also receive an Honorable Mention award for Hamilton and Peggy! A Revolutionary Friendship, published by HarperCollins and Katherine Tegen Books. It’s the first time an author will be given the Prize, and an Honorable Mention.

Author and publisher David Bruce Smith, who co-founded the Prize with the late Dr. Bruce Cole, former chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities, calls Suspect Red “a historically accurate novel of suspense that will engage young readers in a complicated period of America’s history.”

The School Library Journal review of Hamilton and Peggy! A Revolutionary Friendship, noted “The story is drawn from extensive research on each of the characters, through their letters, magazines, newspapers, and personal diaries. Elliott has accomplished something wonderful here, and this is an absolute must-have for all middle and high school collections.”

Teri Kanefield, who will receive an “Honorable Mention” for her biography of Andrew Jackson, is a prolific contributor to “The Making of America” series published by Harry N. Abrams. In addition to “Jackson”, she has written about Alexander Hamilton (2017), and Abraham Lincoln (2018). Her “Susan B. Anthony” and “Franklin Delano Roosevelt” will appear in 2019, and the publication date of “Thurgood Marshall” is pending.

The goal of the Grateful American Book Prize, as Ms. Elliott described it, is to “restore history as the captivating subject it is. History is, after all, a human drama, the story of how we got to where we are. Teachers are faced with the daunting task of covering centuries of events, leaders, political and cultural movements, wars, and statistics, on and on. Historical or biographical fiction, if done well, immerses its reader in a time period and brings a beating heart to those ‘dry’ facts. It offers something for which students hunger—humanizing the history they must memorize for tests by telling it through the eyes of an ‘everyman’—a character who must navigate national situations and experiences fears, longing, and moments of revelation, a person with whom readers empathize and turn each page concerned about what happens next. Engaged in a compelling, well-researched story, teens learn so much about a time period and its challenges by osmosis. They’re just enjoying a good story–even if it’s about frightening, complex times, with large lessons, as is Suspect Red.

“This Prize is a gift to all of us taking on the responsibility (and the joy!) of writing historical pieces for young people. I am very lucky to have wonderful editors who believe in historical narratives and are willing to take on the extra work they require. Others in the publishing industry need convincing that such novels have just as much interest-value and potential audience as more pop-culture genres–this Prize does so much to promote that! So I know I speak for all historical novelists when I say we are GRATEFUL!”

The Grateful American Book Prize comes with an award of $13,000, a lifetime pass to the New-York Historical Society, and a medallion created by the American artist, Clarice Smith. The October 11^th presentation will be at The Society of the Cincinnati in Washington, D.C. The “Honorable Mention” authors receive the medallion, and $500 each.

###

Our schools need to put a new emphasis on American history

‘Ask yourself: Could my middle and high school students pass a citizenship test?’

WASHINGTON, DC – Numerous news reports indicate that elementary, middle, and high schools are giving little attention to the study of American history, according to education consultant John Danielson.

Professor Katy Swalwell teaches courses in elementary social studies methods at Iowa State University.  In an article she published at the National History Education Clearinghouse Web site, Dr. Swalwell noted that “the condition of history in the elementary classroom is one of great concern.   History is rarely included as part of the curriculum and, if it is taught, relies upon a conventional and canonical perspective that ignores historical scholarship and excludes multiple perspectives.  Our best hope is that current and future teachers become critical consumers of state standards and district-sponsored materials and see themselves as ‘smugglers’ of good history back into the school day.”

It’s shameful but true that less than 20% of young learners are proficient in U.S. history.  More disturbing is a report issued by the Annenberg Public Policy Center that shows nearly 75% of Americans cannot name the three branches of government.

“There is a general lack of knowledge about our history; perhaps, that is the reason why political dissension has become more violent in recent times,” says Danielson, a long-term colleague of former Secretary of Education Lamar Alexander.  He also served as Chief of Staff for Education Secretary Rod Paige.

“Dissension, in itself, is not a bad thing.  Skeptics like George Washington, John Adams and the other Founding Fathers put our nation on the road to a unique style of governance—a federation of states with a Representative Democracy.  And, it took nonconformists such as Abraham Lincoln, Susan B. Anthony and Martin Luther King, Jr. to incorporate their visions of a better world to bring about much needed reforms to the American way—which actually—permanently influenced the world for the better.  They were our revolutionary role models,” said Danielson.

Is the country losing faith in the values and ideals that made it great, because of its historical illiteracy?

“The late Dr. Bruce Cole, former chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities, and history education advocate David Bruce Smith thought so.  And, that is why the Grateful American Book Prize was established.  It occurred to them that if kids were not learning history in the classroom, perhaps they could be enticed with stories of adventure, romance and ingenuity.  The Prize is aimed at encouraging authors and their publishers to produce more historically accurate fiction and nonfiction for middle schoolers.  Regaling our kids with exciting tales that capture their imaginations can hook them on history.”

As columnist Karol Markowicz put it an OpEd in the New York Post: “We talk often about how fractured our country has become.  That our division increases while school kids are taught less and less about our shared history should come as no surprise.”

If that’s the case, says Danielson, we need to do whatever it takes to “re-capture” the kids.  It would help, too, if parents petitioned the education authorities in their communities and states, requesting them to reinstate the importance of history in the classroom.

“How can we expect America’s younger generations to learn how to be responsible and productive citizens without informing them of the events and personalities that shaped the nation?  How can they make knowledgeable, intelligent choices without knowing the critically important decisions of the past?” Danielson said.

Fact: for those newly arrived in the U.S. seeking to become citizens, a thorough knowledge of American history is a requisite.  They need to know about the Constitution, the workings of our three branches of government and more.  There are no less than 100 questions on the examination they must take in order to qualify for citizenship.

Says Danielson: “ask yourself, could my middle and high school students pass a citizenship test?”

###

Putting a new focus on history for America’s students

WASHINGTON, DC – More than half a million students participated in the 2018 National History Day Contest (NHD), including “more than 3,000 middle and high school students [who] presented documentaries, exhibits, papers, performances, and websites related to the 2018 theme, Conflict & Compromise in History.”

History education advocate David Bruce Smith believes the program imparts incentives for young learners, such as scholarships and cash awards, to focus on history.

“The late Dr. Bruce Cole, former chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities, which is a sponsor of National History Day, encouraged me to join him in creating the Grateful American Book Prize with the same goal in mind. Our aim was to create an inducement for authors and publishers to produce more books of historically accurate fiction and nonfiction that would inspire middle school students, and stimulate a curiosity about the past; NHD and the Grateful American Book Prize are important ways of creating better informed, more responsible generations of citizens.”

Established in 1974, NHD has already announced its 2019 theme: Triumph & Tragedy in History. Parents and teachers should consider encouraging their sons, daughters and students to get involved. The how-to page on the NHD Website provides information about entering.

 Meanwhile, the judges for the 2018 Grateful American Book Prize are in the process of reading this year’s qualified books. The deadline for entries is July 31^st. The Prize will be presented on October 11^th at The Society of the Cincinnati. The winner will receive $13,000 and a one-of-a-kind medallion created by American artist Clarice Smith. In addition, two authors will be selected as “Honorable Mentions.” They get $500 each and the medallion.

Why all this fuss about history? Peter Stearns, professor of History at George Mason University, points out there are plenty of reasons for instilling a love of the subject among our children. Perhaps most important is that it “provides data about the emergence of national institutions, problems, and values—it’s the only significant storehouse of such data available. It offers evidence also about how nations have interacted with other societies, providing international and comparative perspectives essential for responsible citizenship. Further, studying history helps us understand how recent, current, and prospective changes that affect the lives of citizens are emerging or may emerge and what causes are involved. More important, studying history encourages habits of mind that are vital for responsible public behavior, whether as a national or community leader, an informed voter, a petitioner, or a simple observer.”

###

OPINION: How can our sons and daughters navigate the future without knowledge of the past?

The College Board’s Advanced Placement courses offer high school students the opportunity to study a subject in depth. So, why are they dropping more than 8,000 years from its 2019 AP World History course?

The Board claims there is just too much content– as it stands—to squeeze into a year, and many teachers agree. Conversely, there are others who object to arbitrarily “editing” history.

In fact, a New Jersey high school student has started a petition that has garnered more than 10,000 signatures. It requests Trevor Packer, the College Board senior vice president in charge of the AP program, to reverse its decision, and leave the World History course intact.

The student, Dylan Black, put it this way in his petition: “AP World History covers, as of 2018, 10,000 years of human history stretching from the Americas, to Europe, to East Asia, and everywhere else. The class is demanding on students, but is also one of the most rewarding, life changing classes I’ve ever had the privilege to take.”

It’s bad enough that too many kids today are deficient in their knowledge of history– a fact that has been proven, repeatedly. One study by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) report found that only 18 percent of 8th graders were proficient in U.S. History.  We should not be denying students who have a love of history the opportunity to immerse themselves in it.

We should encourage our kids to learn as much as they can about the past. How else can they grow into productive, civically minded adults without it?

###