Review: A Place Called America

By Jennifer Thermes

New York: Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2023. Informational.

Focusing on the history of the United States of America, Jennifer Thermes tells the story of how humans have always moved to find food, water, and shelter—just like all living creatures do. The make up of the people of the United States only came to be because of different migrations to a land that was already inhabited. Thermes shows how conflict and tragedy allowed different people to change the landscape and boarders of the United States to become the land it is now.

I think the maps in this book are beautiful. They're so intricate and I love to look for every detail. Thermes does an excellent job showing how the boarders of the country changed through several wars, annexations, and treaties. I also love how she handles the parts of the United States' history that can be hard to talk about. She acknowledges the hardships people have gone through without focusing on who's to blame. Overall, this ends as a hopeful plea for respect and coexistence.

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