The Battle of the Alamo: An Interactive History Adventure

by Amie Jane Leavitt

Overview

Describes the battle of the Alamo in 1836 as Mexican soldiers overwhelmed the Texan Alamo defenders, and explains what the battle symbolizes today. The readers choices reveal historical details from the perspective of a Mexican soldier and a Texan rebel.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781515742579
Publisher:	Capstone
Publication date:	08/01/2016
Series:	You Choose: History Series
Pages:	112
Sales rank:	1,050,506
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 7.30(h) x 0.30(d)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Amie Jane Leavitt is an accomplished author and photographer who loves to travel the globe in search of interesting story ideas and beautiful places to capture in photos. Amie has written nearly 50 books for children. She graduated from Brigham Young University as an education major and has since taught all subjects and grade levels in both private and public schools. She also has contributed to online and print media, and has worked as a consultant, writer, and editor for numerous educational publishing and assessment companies.

Table of Contents

Taking sides over Texas — Life in Santa Anna's army — Fighting for Texas — Remember the Alamo!

Editorial Reviews

The premise of the You Choose series, which is catalogued as nonfiction despite its lightly fictionalized approach, is that young readers are able to choose their path through a historical event. In this title about the Texas rebellion, readers decide early on whether to join the Mexican or Texan army, then branch off to face a variety of different choices. The dual paths (assuming readers wind up following both) have the advantage of allowing readers to gain perspective on both sides. For example, readers who join the Mexican army will learn that to the average Mexican, the Texas rebellion seemed like a landgrab. However, students looking for report information may find the book’s organization frustrating, whereas those drawn by the book’s billing as a “history adventure” may be disappointed by the sometimes dry, factual text. But patient readers willing to follow the book’s several strands will develop a comprehensive picture of the battle of the Alamo, enriched by color reproductions, maps, and basic end matter, including a bibliography.

Booklist

This book offers readers two story paths, 50 choices, and 16 endings. Everything in it happened to real people.

Learning Magazine

In this edition of the “You Choose Books” readers can discover historical events through making decisions and finding out what would have happened if they had made those choices, which lead to the events of “The Battle of the Alamo.” Readers start off by learning why the Mexican army would be getting ready to fight those Texans at the Alamo. Then readers are given their first choice—to fight for Mexico or for Texas. Each path leads readers to discover what happened to various groups of people in this important battle. Readers can fight with Davy Crocket or learn how Santa Anna’s men had to dig trenches, shoot cannons, or fight to get inside the Alamo. The book has many pictures showing real people, places, or scenes scattered throughout the text, which also includes additional facts related to the reader’s choice and the illustration. All of the choices conclude with the overall historic explanation of what happened, a timeline, glossary, and bibliography. This is a great start for adventure seekers who want to discover the adventure in history.

Children's Literature Comprehensive Database