about the book
I don’t know about you, but I usually don’t think history is funny, especially the historical facts about the hanging of America’s first spy during the Revolutionary War! But this graphic novel is funny. Not the type of funny that will have you giggling quietly. This is the type of funny that has you snorting milk out of your nose and holding your sides!
Author Nathan Hale writes about his namesake. The book starts just as the hero says his famous last words, “I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country” and is hanged by the British. A giant history book eats him. Moments later he is spit out and he tells the hangman and the British soldiers that now he knows the whole history of America!
Of course, the British and the hangman are enthralled as Nathan starts to tell his own tale. Did you know he was mighty unlucky as a student at Yale? The bad luck followed him as he took on the duties of an officer in the American forces. Be prepared for a lot of gallows humor and some of the craziest, most gruesome unbelievable historical truths.
And just as Nathan ends one story he begins another. As long as the hangman and the British soldiers are caught up in his tales of the Civil war and Big Bad Ironclad, the longer he evades the hangman’s noose…again!
about the author
Nathan Hale is an illustrator and author of children’s picture books and graphic novels. He attended Cornish College of the Arts and has a background in scientific and natural history illustration, working for several years on displays, murals, and dioramas for museums around the world.
Nathan has authored four books. His book The Devil You Know is being made into a movie. Besides contributing to periodicals and creating images for TV ads, he has illustrated many books, including the 70 reprinted volumes of the Bailey School Kids. He also illustrated Rapunzel’s Revenge which was nominated for an Eisner Award.
Despite their common name, author Nathan James Hale is not a direct descendent of the famous American Revolutionary spy. That Nathan Hale was hanged before he had any children. The author Nathan Hale is actually named after his grandfather.
Nathan’s wife, Mindy, helps him by lettering the panels in the graphic novel illustrations. The couple lives with their two children in Provo, Utah. In his spare time, Nathan loves to play video games, has a HUGE collection of Legos, and runs marathons (seven so far). He also posts an on-going web-comic for children every weekday.
Sources:
Author website
Hazardous Tales series website
Author biography: Shannon Associates
Author biography: Bloomsbury Publishing
Also by Nathan Hale:
Treaties, Trenches, Mud, and Blood (Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales. Amulet Books. March 2014.
Donner Dinner Party (Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales. Amulet Books. 2013.
Big Bad Ironclad! (Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales. Amulet Books. 2012.
read more!
Big Bad Ironclad! by Nathan Hale
Discover the hilarious story behind the larger-than-life characters who rushed to build the first iron-clad warships during the Civil War. Meet the victorious inventor, who enjoyed blowing up things, and William Cushing, a mischievous gent who pranked his way through the entire war!
Road to Revolution (Cartoon Chronicles of America) by Stan Mack
Set In 1775 Boston, Massachusetts, two young adults, Penny and her friend Nick, a homeless orphan, find themselves taking a stand and helping the colonists in their revolt against the British. Working with Samuel Adams, George Washington, and Paul Revere, Nick helps with the crucial midnight ride while Penny goes undercover, foiling an attack on Bunker Hill.
Sophia’s War : A Tale of the Revolution by Avi
After witnessing the hanging of Nathan Hale in New York City, 1776, young Sophia vows to do whatever she can to help the American Revolution. She is recruited by the Patriots to be a spy and becomes the maid of the commander of the British forces. When she hears of the treason of Benedict Arnold, she realizes that she is the only one who can stop him.