About this Book: |
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In The First Shot, eleven-year-old Charles Miller goes back in time to the Battle of Lexington in 1775. His adventure begins when he is visited by Ben Sampson, also eleven, who lives in 1775. Charles and Ben experience and participate in the events of an eleven-hour period of considerable tension, anxiety and turmoil before and during the Battle. Charles meets Ben’s father and other Minutemen, as well as Paul Revere, John Hancock, Sam Adams and Captain John Parker, all of whom Charles sees as real people rather than the larger-than-life characters of history books. Young readers will enjoy an exciting adventure story and be accurately informed about one of the seminal events of American history. Included in the story is the discovery of who fired the shot that began the Battle – one of the great mysteries of American history – and thus the American Revolution. Time travel, presented in a thoughtful low-tech manner (no flashing lights, bells or sizzling arcs), enables the middle-grade reader to experience the challenges faces by a modern-day youngster trying to cope with the unfamiliar environment, historical figures and episodes of a time long past.
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About the Author: |
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Stan Harris was in a bookstore in Lexington looking for a novel about the Battle of Lexington for his granddaughter. When he was told that there were none available, he assumed that the bookstore was temporarily out of novels suitable for a nine-year-old. The manager explained that while there were several history books about the Battle for middle-grade children, she was unaware of any novels. A former long-time resident of Lexington, Stan wanted to teach the history of the town in which his children had grown and gone to school. He had never written a novel, but as a veteran of the high-tech industry he had written a number of technical articles. As he researched and wrote The First Shot, he decided that combining an exciting story with historical accuracy was an excellent supplement to history books as a way of teaching young people about important historical events and figures. He is writing a second novel for young people about the Revolution.
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