Cover Image: Lies My Teacher Told Me: Young Readers’ Edition

Lies My Teacher Told Me: Young Readers’ Edition

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Member Reviews

Due to a passing in the family a few years ago and my subsequent health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for years after the bereavement. Thank you for the opportunity.

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This is truly excellent. I have given so many copies of Lies My Teach Told Me to friends, family, and library patrons over the years, explaining the product that is American history as taught in American schools. To have a young readers' edition is fantastic. It's also great to be able to share this here in the UK, as most are baffled by the American take on historical events due to the sanitising and twisting of the US propaganda machine.
Many, many thanks.

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At a time where textbook publishers are increasingly tied to conservative state governments, this book is an invaluable counterpoint.

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Everything I learned in public school history was pretty much a lie. It sounds like an over-exaggeration, but it is pretty much true. Throughout my adulthood, I have been learning the real history of the United States, as well as our global history, and I am always appreciative of books I can share with my kids so that they don’t have to go back and relearn history later in life.

James W. Loewen’s Lies My Teacher Told Me Young Readers’ Edition is a perfect book to add to your history shelf. This slimmed down version of his original tome is geared for middle to high school ages. This, along with many other excellent books, is essential reading at our house. Using primary resources and encouraging critical thinking, the book will help engage students as they learn about history that wasn’t necessarily written by those in power.

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This is a fantastic book and I'm so glad it's available for younger readers. I'll be recommending it to my readers and all homeschoolers I know, plus reading it with my own children.

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After reading this book, I recommended it to my first-year college composition students, all of whom are pursuing a career in either elementary or middle school teaching. This book is a worthwhile resource for teachers, parents, and students!

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This book is fantastic! Honestly, as a teacher, there is so much I am learning from this book. It is simply horrifying how much proper information has been left out or smoothed over by history books. Thank you for providing such an eye opening book for young kids to learn and understand the actual history of our nation.

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I am sorry to say that I didn't have time to read this book before it expired from my e-reader. I realy wanted to read it, though, so I will look for it in the store.

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Once you get past the title, the book is actually pretty level-headed. History is presented differently by each person or group, depending on their background and their agenda. Mr. Loewen tries to bring these slants to light and make students think about what they are being taught and what bias the teacher or author may have, rather than just learning facts long enough to regurgitate them for a test. I agree with his premise and (most of) the steps he proposes to correct our future History learning. There is definitely a Democratic undertone to this book, which could rub Republicans the wrong way. I will recommend this book to 5th-9th graders (and up).

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Thoroughly intriguing and interesting book about the lies told In History lessons in the US.
Although I have never been to the States I learnt much from this book. I gained a better understanding of American history and also the bad methods of history education in schools.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me this book,. This is my voluntary review.

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I was provided with a complimentary copy of this book so I could give an honest review.

Everyone has most likely heard the quote, "History is written by the victors." Although the quote is often attributed to Winston Churchill, it is not known who originally said it. However, the author does not matter, only the truth of the quote.

Lies My Teacher Told Me: Young Readers’ Edition Everything American History Textbooks Get Wrong by James W. Loewen is part of his campaign to correct mistakes that have been taught in schools for years. His most famous work, Lies My Teacher Told Me, was originally published in 1995.

This history book is geared toward "young readers". I, as an adult, found the information interesting and some was outright surprising to me. However, I think young readers would find it wordy. This was not a book to sit and read cover to cover. I needed time to reflect, discuss, and to research sections for more information.

Adding it to an advanced or higher level history course to complement a traditional history textbook would be an asset to the student's education. Allowing both books to be read at the same time would probably help encourage the reader's curiosity to not just accept what the textbooks offers as history as fact.

This review was published on Philomathinphila.com, Smashbomb, Goodreads, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble on 5/23/19 and on Facebook and Twitter on 6/11/19. When available, the review will be published on Scribd.com and, using Overdrive, will be rated in 9 libraries.

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This is a really fascinating read. This is perfect for anyone who wants to know the real history of America that you're not taught in school. This book effortless pulls apart the lies told by history teachers across the US. Thoroughly enjoyed this book.

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This a great read to teach children about what really goes into the history books found in their classroom. Mr. Loewen shares the myths and their actual truths. He does a good job of explaining why textbooks are published and utilized in the classroom with what is suppose to facts and truths about our nation and world.

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I am a teacher, so I do feel I have to start by pointing out that the title is a bit misleading. The author evens admits this in the introduction. Textbooks don't give all of the information. As a result, most teachers can't give students all of the information. This book, and its predecessor, changes that game.

The information revealed in this book adds so much depth to history. I have found myself including little tidbits in my own lessons! I think high school students, but really students of any age, would benefit from reading this book. It not only proves itself to be a fountain of information, but it also creates a great lesson in itself for comparison to history textbooks. And while the year is almost over at this point, I plan to encourage my own students to check it out for some summer reading

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These days, I find myself wavering between obsessively watching/listening to the news (I HAVE to know! What’s going on?) and wallowing in despair, avoiding news. Either way, I truly fear the direction we are headed in, in large part due to the lack of critical thinking and understanding of current events I see everywhere.

Back in 1995, James Loewen’s Lies My Teacher Told Me was published. It started as a survey of the dozen leading history textbooks, and over the years has been revised and updated, selling nearly two million copies, winning an American Book Award and the Oliver Cromwell Cox Award for Distinguished Anti-Racist Scholarship, and been on the front page of the New York Times.

Now Rebecca Stefoff, a writer of nonfiction for children who previously who Howard Zinn’s bestseller A People’s History of the United States for young readers, has written an adapted version of Lies My Teacher Told Me, aimed at younger students.

It starts before the events around Columbus “discovering” America (!) and includes people and events such as the first Thanksgiving, Helen Keller, the My Lai massacre, 9/11, and the Iraq War.

Along the way, Stefoff isn’t shy about poking holes in the common textbook versions of history. IMHO this is the book that SHOULD be used to teach U.S. history to students. I loved it. Five stars. And IMHO, although it is ostensibly for students ages 12 to 18, it is probably written at a good level for a huge number of adults as well.

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I am not a fan. Although this information is probably more accurate than traditional textbooks, I didn't care for the negative vibes surrounding the corrections. Instead of making the inaccuracies engaging and interesting, much of the book just sounds like complaining. Maybe the complaints have good reasoning, but the way they are presented takes away from the powerful facts that are trying to break through. I was super excited to read this and possibly use it with my classes, but I think I will pass. There's enough negativity and divisiveness in this world; I don't want to add to it.

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Reading this as a teacher of fifth and sixth grade social studies was very interesting. I consider myself a teacher but also a lifelong learner and as such, rarely teach straight from a textbook. I try to incorporate all of my learning in my lessons. However, if this book is aimed at a young audience, I feel that it may have missed its mark. As a teacher, I found it interesting and engaging in most areas but it was wordy and often long winded in others. I think it would lose the attention of most readers below high school age. While the information is important and the truth should be told, textbooks are only a small part of the issue. My high school teachers led me to debate and think critically about all material and I hope I do the same for my students. The teaching of history is far greater than what is in a textbook.

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This young readers' version is well done, keeping what is the best part of Loewen's original. Just as relevant today as when the book was first written, this adaptation for younger (middle/high school readers) is a very useful supplement for teaching American history. The book addresses the reality of actually doing historical work, but could have gone a bit further in this regard. There are many examples given, but I think more could be explained to young readers about how the actual materials for historical work are found and processed. Some of the material critiquing textbooks is left in this adaptation, which is good, but some of the overall argument of the original book is lost making things occasionally seem a bit unstructured. That said, the book is still thought provoking and valuable and it is important that it be re-released in a way that makes it still more accessible.

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I was pretty excited to see a Young Readers version of one of my favorite books about history. Will highly recommend to my middle
Level ore-service teachers, especially those majoring in Social Studies.

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As a social studies teacher, I found this book quite interesting and learned much along the way. I would like to add it to my classroom library.

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