Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews
Andrew Jackson: Young Patriot
Illustrator: Meryl Henderson
Nonfiction Series
For ages 8 to 12
Simon and Schuster, 2003 ISBN: 978-0689857447
Andrew Jackson was the kind of boy who knew just he wanted to do. He knew that he did not want to have to continue going to the little local school for one thing. After all, he knew more than the teacher did didn’t he? What Andrew, or Andy, as he was called by those who knew him, wanted to do was to help his uncle drive the cattle to Charles Town. Later he wanted to help his fellow Patriots fight against the British. Andy felt very strongly that the British had no right telling his people, the Americans, how they should live their lives. Andy’s widowed mother however was not in favor of him going off to war, and Andy did his best to do as his mother asked. But, there came a time when Andy had to defend his home and family. Still quite young, Andy found himself fighting against redcoat soldiers.
The story of Andrew Jackson’s youthful adventures is wonderfully told in this excellent addition to the "Childhood of Famous Americans" series. The author manages to capture Jackson’s innocence at the beginning of the book, which, as the war takes its toll on the young boy, is lost by its close. We are able to understand the forces that shaped the boy and thus, what it was that made Andrew Jackson the kind of man he was.
