Mixed-Up History

Abraham Lincoln: Pro Wrestler
Steve Sheinkin
Neil Swaab, Illustrator
Roaring Brook, 2018 147 pages
Grades 2-5
Fantasy/Historical Fiction
Mixed-Up History series #1

Step-siblings Abby and Doc, like the rest of their class, find history excruciatingly boring. Even the teacher seems to be indifferent to its value as a subject. As they read about Abraham Lincoln from their textbooks the late president reinforces this belief by doing nothing except read his paper and drink his coffee. After school the children find an empty box in the library's storage room. To their surprise who should pop out but Abraham Lincoln, who is running away because the present world no longer cares about the past. The box turns out to be time portal through which Abby, Doc, and Lincoln pop back and forth from the past to the present. In the past Lincoln is facing the results of his first presidential election. In the present a professional wrestling match is taking place at the children's school and Lincoln, a former wrestler, gets involved. It is up to Abby and Doc to get Lincoln to behave and return to his proper place and time. Mission accomplished, but will this be the end of time traveling historical figures? And did Abby and Doc break history forever?

Abigail Adams: Pirate of the Caribbean
Steve Sheinkin
Neil Swaab, Illustrator
Roaring Brook, 2018 151 pages
Grades 2-5
Fantasy/Historical Fiction
Mixed-Up History series #2

Abby and Doc are contacted by Lincoln to return another restless historical figure. Abigail Adams is hanging wash in the new, yet rustic, White House when she decides to run away by leaping into her laundry basket. This portal takes her back nearly one-hundred years to the days of swashbuckling pirates. Adams makes friends with the famous Anne Bonny and joins Calico Jack’s crew. Abby and Doc leap through their box and join her on the pirate ship. All travelers are put to work when, much to their surprise, John Adams shows up to join them. All seems lost when Abigail attempts a mutiny, resulting in a possible duel. Will the team find an escape portal before it's too late?

Steve Sheinkin, best known for his amazing teen non-fiction historical works, takes his talents down a peg to appeal to a younger audience. Young elementary students will enjoy these selections. They are silly, adventurous, and certainly turn history on its ear. Not quite up to the quality of magic tree house, the Mixed-Up Histories are funnier and very heavily illustrated, which will appeal to reluctant readers. I, for one, do not find history boring in the first place and would prefer Sheinkin to turn his talents to writing the quality stuff for which we love him, but I am not the audience. The children Sheinkin is attempting to reach are those who have closed themselves off from history and think that they dislike it. There are interesting facts thrown in that supports the belief that the truth is sometimes more absurd than fiction. A section at the end of the book separates the fact from the fiction and is written in such a way that kids will actually read it. The black and white cartoon-like illustrations, contributed by James Patterson's Middle School series illustrator, Swaab, are great and will draw readers. They are on every page and help to propel the plot. For some reason I don't like the covers and can't place why since I enjoyed the interiors. More Bill and Ted than tree house, this series will appeal to the Captain Underpants/Wimpy Kid crowd, who just might learn something along the way.