Student Guide To Celebrating the 250th – What to Read, Watch, & Play

1. Abigail and John by David Bruce Smith (Ages 5+)

John and Abigail Adams were a powerful force in securing America's independence. This book tells history through the pair's eyes, having witnessed the American Revolution firsthand along with the key moments leading up to it like the Boston Massacre and Boston Tea Party. It also demonstrates their engagement with revolutionary leaders and heroes along the way including Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and George Washington. Readers will follow their origin story to becoming an equal, intellectual partnership influential in forming America's new government.

2. George vs George: The American Revolution As Seen From Both Sides by Rosalyn Schanzer (Ages 6-9)

The American revolution wasn't one-sided, nor was it a story of good versus evil. This book will expand readers' understanding of the fight for independence by telling both sides of the conflict: King George III and George Washington. The story offers factual historical context from a balanced perspective.

3. Ben's Revolution: Benjamin Russell and the Battle of Bunker Hill by Nathaniel Philbrick (Ages 7-9)

The revolutionary war impacted everyone, but not in the same ways. This book, authored by Pulitzer Prize Finalist and National Book award winner Nathaniel Philbrick, offers a compelling recount of the war through the lens of a young boy who heard the news break while sitting in his classroom. Young readers can more closely relate to this monumental historical event as its told through a child's perspective.

4. Revolutionary Friends: General George Washington and the Marquis de Lafayette by Selene Castrovilla (Ages 7-10)

In an effort to show the human side of the war efforts, this story details the start of an enduring friendship between George Washington and the Marquis de Lafayette during a time of conflict. The French aristocrat's contributions to the cause like securing French aid and military services, were vital in leading the Americans to victory.

5. A Spy Called James: The True Story of James Lafayette, Revolutionary War Double Agent by Anne Rockwell (Ages 7-11)

This book follows James Lafayette, who served as a double agent for George Washington's army during the American Revolution while being enslaved. He helped lead America to victory at Yorktown after gathering intel and feeding false information to the British forces. Post-war, James continued his personal fight for freedom which he was denied despite his essential service.

6. Crispus Attucks, the African American Hero published by Dissected Lives Books (Ages 8-11)

This is a biographical story focusing on the life of Crispus Attucks, an enslaved man of African and Native American descent and the first casualty by British soldiers in the Boston Massacre. This book details the valuable contributions African Americans made in the fight for independence and Attucks's death symbolizes resistance for all oppressed people.

7. Worst of Friends: Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and the True Story of an American Feud by Suzanne Tripp Jurmain (Ages 9-12)

From best to worst friends, this story details how the pressure of politics briefly drove John Adams and Thomas Jefferson apart. The factual, yet humorous story outlines their differing views on how to run the new nation along with the rivalry that followed them to the White House. Ultimately the pair learned to put their political differences aside for the sake of friendship.

8. Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes (Ages 9-14)

This classic 1943 Newbery Medal-winning novel follows the story of a teenage silversmith apprentice in Boston who became uniquely involved in the pivotal events of the American revolution. Readers can peek into the days of colonial Boston told in rich historical detail.

A childhood favorite of Rick Atkinson, Pulitzer Prize winning author and contributor to Ken Burns' Revolutionary docuseries

9. Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson (Ages 10-13)

This historical fiction novel tells the story of Isabel Finch, a thirteen-year-old enslaved girl and her younger sister Ruth during the revolutionary war. The two are promised Freedom only to be sold into a Loyalist Family who they're encouraged to spy on for insights into British invasions. The story is a powerful depiction of the personal cost of slavery.

10. Revolutionary Poet: A Story about Phillis Wheatley by Maryann N. Weidt (Ages 9-14)

An inspiring biography of a bright young girl who moved to Boston ahead of the revolution as an enslaved person who took up a love for poetry. Phillis' extraordinary poetry was published across the colonies and she eventually went on to become the first black American to publish a book.

Recommended by Boston's Museum of African American History.

11. Anna Strong: A Spy During the American Revolution by Sarah Glenn Marsh (Ages 5-8)

Following the story of a young woman who risked everything in the fight for freedom, readers get to peek into the thrilling life of a revolutionary spy. Anna Strong was recruited to the Culper Ring, a group of American spies, and changed the course of history with her clever methods working for George Washington.

12. Rebellion 1776 by Laurie Halse Anderson (Ages 10-14)

This book follows 13-year-old Bostonian, Elsbeth Culpepper, who faces the chaotic war zone of Boston in 1776. She is forced to grow up fast after a series of hardships – including her father, and only relative, going missing and a smallpox epidemic sweeping across the city. Her story follows her finding work, overcoming illness, and the search for her missing father.