This year’s historic July 4th marks 250 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence and the birth of our remarkable nation. Since it’s such a milestone, I feel the need to return to a Book Itch recommendation from five years ago. (When you love a book, it’s hard not to keep talking about it.) Here’s my post from 2021:
There are always wonderful new books for us to discover and love, but I hope the worthy, stand-out titles that came before are not allowed to languish or be withdrawn from library shelves. I hope they are being recommended and passed—with enthusiasm and passion—between book lovers. A “keeper” in my personal library is Countdown to Independence: A Revolution of Ideas in England and Her American Colonies, 1760-1776 by Natalie S. Bober (Atheneum, 2001).
Bober presents an objective, balanced and compelling picture of the key individuals and events that led to thirteen Colonies declaring independence from England. In fine, cinematic detail Bober tells both sides of the story, taking readers inside the House of Commons to observe heated debates about British sovereignty, then across the Atlantic to witness colonists speaking passionately about liberty while carefully trying to sidestep the inevitable idea of independence. Engaging, yet scholarly, this book has everything—rich and colorful characters, suspense, humor, violence, intrigue, romance, tragedy.
Countdown to Independence is an impressive accomplishment—well-researched, organized and executed. It is an important contribution to the literature of American (and British) history.
Also on this holiday, I like to reread and share the lovely picture book My America, written by Jan Spivey Gilchrist and co-illustrated with my dear friend Ashley Bryan who would have been 103 this July. Illustrating alternate pages in a kind of picture book duet, she and Ashley use different, yet complementing majestic styles in this uplifting and stunning tribute to our nation. The book asks the question, “Have you seen my America?” I encourage everyone to look around at our America and celebrate.
Happy Happy Birthday to us all!