Spoiler-free (can’t really spoil this one) summary: A straightforward biography of Abraham Lincoln, mostly focused on his life before 1860 — only about the last third covers his presidency and the Civil War. Bland but reasonably accurate, I can imagine a kid who is interested in Lincoln would appreciate this book even today.
Discussion: Having recently read The Railroad to Freedom, a heavily fictionalized biography of Harriet Tubman, this was a welcome change. Granted, there is some fabrication that has to be happening here, since there are conversations depicted with Lincoln as a child that would not have been recorded, but the events seem to be broadly correct, and I’m guessing less needed to be invented the later we get into Lincoln’s life. The only criticism might be that this is a relentlessly positive depiction of Lincoln. I’m not an expert on his life, but my understanding is that he truly was a decent guy, so even that might not be too far off reality.
As I say in the summary, the upshot of this approach to his life is that it’s a little boring. Interesting things do happen to him, and he was a witty guy, but not much has been done to craft this into a narrative arc. Instead, this feels more like a dutiful listing of his life events in order. Which might be fine, real lives don’t usually have novel-like arcs, and trying too hard to force it can get you The Railroad to Freedom and its invented plot line about Tubman and her evil owner that runs from beginning to end. But someone’s enjoyment of this book probably comes down to whether they are interested in Lincoln or not. Luckily, I think a lot of people are.
My next book is from the first batch of Newbery Honors of 1922, Cedric, the Forester by Bernard Marshall.
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