Everything You Need to Ace American History in One Big Fat Notebook is geared to Middle School Students, but makes an excellent reference for adults as well.  The text is marked up with various colors of highlighter to emphasize the most important points.  Periods are outlined so students can visualize a timeline of events, but are fleshed out enough that cause and effect are included making history more understandable and thus more memorable.  Out of approximately 500 pages, I chose to read about the Civil War and Reconstruction periods because of a discussion with a colleague. I was not disappointed: I came away with answers to some questions and a better overall understanding of the events in a fairly brief amount of time.  Obviously, since it was written for middle school students, it was not an exhaustive treatise on the Civil War, but it was a great summary and beginning place for more in-depth research.  One of the difficulties of studying American History at any grade level is that is nearly impossible to cover the full history of America in one school year.  With this supporting text, one could independently study periods that are not studied in class.

As an independent reviewer, I usually read a book one time and then move on to the next book.  In this case I was looking forward to having Everything You Need to Ace American History in One Big Fat Notebook on my iPad as a reference and work through the various periods as a side hobby. As a tribute to the book’s usefulness, I must say I was disappointed to discover that this book has an expiration date and is no longer available to open. Who knew a book could be like a carton of milk?  I guess I will purchase a copy!

Everything You Need to Ace American History in One Big Fat Notebook has a proposed publication date of August 9, 2016. I would like to extend my thanks to netgalley.com and to Workman Publishing for allowing me to read and review this book in exchange for an unbiased review.