The Battle of Bunker Hill

An Interactive History Adventure

by Michael Burgan

    What would you do if faced with the choices of a Bostonian in 1775? Would you move your family out of harm’s way? Would you be loyal and support the King’s troops? Would you take up arms in support of the American patriot’s cause? One thing that is often missing from history for young people is the dynamic idea of choice and consequence. History seems like stone when we teach it as a series of facts to be memorized instead of real people taking real chances that all could have gone quite differently. The You Choose series of books is a great way to get young people thinking about history instead of just memorizing facts for test day. For those of you unfamiliar with this type of book, it is written so that you read a few pages and then make a choice that determines what page you turn to next. The reader is very much in control of the story.

      I found The Battle of Bunker Hill to be very entertaining and pretty well researched. It is not perfect in its facts; for example, the book claims in the first chapter that the Americans called the British soldiers “lobsterbacks,” when in fact the term did not originate until the around the war of 1812.  For the most part, though, it’s historically solid. Where the book excels is in conveying the scene and mood of Boston 1775 and the consequences of choices that were made by real people. I have to give author Michael Burgan extra credit for not making it predictable or easy to know which choice to make. I survived my first read through with a wound, but it’s as easy to get killed in the book as it was in actual 1775 Boston.  I read the book through the 2^nd time with my 8-year-old daughter, allowing her to make the choices. She took the route that avoided as much conflict as possible without supporting the British troops and experienced her own set of hardships and joys. I found through further reads that there was a surprising amount of diversity in branching paths for a book only 105 pages long. According to the book itself there are 14 different endings possible and 37 choices to make.

     History books for younger readers are not rare; good history books for younger readers are. The illustrations in the book are unfortunately taken from a host of sources and are of varying quality, but the overall effect of the book and it’s writing is exceptional. The Battle of Bunker Hill by Michael Burgen is published by Capstone Press and retails for $6.95.