Hunting with Daniel Boone, waiting out an Indian siege of a pioneer fort, operating a lock on the Whitewater Canal and helping a slave along the route of the Underground Railroad are just some of the adventures Cody Carter experiences while reading the journals written by his ancestors in The Carter Journals: Time Travels In Early U.S. History by Shane Phipps. The adventure begins when Cody’s grandfather gives him a box of the dusty journals and asks him to read them. Each journal was written by an ancestor when they were about Cody’s age.
Amazingly enough, as Cody starts reading a journal, he is magically transported back to the time of the journal and becomes the journal writing ancestor. This conceit is just enough to allow the reader to suspend disbelief and experience the adventures with Cody. Wisely, Mr. Phipps emphasizes the adventures in history rather than the supernatural physics of the time travel. This first person narrative of the history makes the books interesting and fun to read. It was particularly fun when the journal writer was a girl and Cody had to enter the world of femininity.
Along with the stories of the Carter family lives in North Carolina, State of Franklin, Tennessee and Indiana, the book has wonderful illustrations. I particularly liked the picture of Daniel Boone’s gun. Somehow it never occurred to me that Daniel Boone would carve words and pictures into his gun to personalize it.
Did you notice in the last paragraph that part of the story takes place in the State of Franklin? I’d never heard of that place or its role in American history. Even though I have at least the average knowledge of U.S. geography and history, Mr. Phipps educated me about the State of Franklin.
Meet Shane Phipps at Bookmamas on Saturday, February 27 to discuss history and the journey of a family to Indiana.
