Booklists: suggested reading

 

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Lincoln Stars

 

Fiction and Nonfiction related to Abraham Lincoln, his family and his assasination.

 

Annotations are from Advance, the Ingram Book Magazine, unless noted.

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Fiction

• Henry and Clara
  Author: Mallon, Thomas
  Publisher: Ticknor & Fields $ 22.95 ISBN: 039559071x Date: 1994
  PW
  Blending fact with fiction, Mallon vividly re-creates the tragic story of Henry and Clara Rathbone--the young couple who sat in the President's box on the night of Lincoln's assassination. Witnessing the event that shook the entire nation changed their lives forever, leading to guilt, madness, and eventually murder. A moving and astonishing story based on a little known tale.
  Updated 10.24.05
• Booth
  Author: Robertson, David
  Publisher: Anchor Price: $ 23.95 ISBN: 0385487061 Date: 1998
  PW LJ
  A gripping novel set amidst the confusion and chaos of the Civil War, Booth tells the story of the only conspirator in the plot to kill Abraham Lincoln who was not killed or executed - a young man who falls under the spell of the charismatic and captivating world-famous stage actor, John Wilkes Booth, and is gradually sucked into the vortex of his insidious plans.
  Suggested Reading: Historical Fiction Stars | Civil War Fiction | Biographical Fiction
• Abe
  Author: Slotkin, Richard
  Publisher: Holt $ 27.50 ISBN: 0805041230 Date: 2000
  PW
  In a brilliant work of historical imagination, award-winning historian Slotkin recreates the childhood of Abe Lincoln, including a dramatic flatboat journey down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers to New Orleans.
  Suggested Reading: Biographical Fiction

Nonfiction

• Lincoln
  Author: Donald, David Herbert
  Publisher: Simon & Schuster $ 35 ISBN: 0684808463 Date: 1995
  Kirkus LJ
  ALA Notable | Nytbr Notable
  In a most important and compelling biography, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author presents a moving, original portrait of a man who grew into greatness as president. Drawing on Lincoln's personal papers and on the vast, unexplored records of his legal practice, Donald recreates Lincoln's world with immediacy and rich detail.
  Updated 10.25.05
• Lincoln and Whitman: Parallel Lives in Civil War Washington
  Author: Epstein, Daniel Mark
  Publisher: Ballantine $ 24.95 ISBN: 0345457994 Date: 2004
  Kirkus
  The vivid and intimate story of how the lives and thoughts of Abraham Lincolnand Walt Whitman converged during the Civil War years.
  Updated 10.25.05
• Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln
  Author: Godwin, Doris Kearns
  Publisher: Simon & Schuster $ 35 ISBN: 0684824906 Date: 2005
  Booklist
  An acclaimed, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian (No Ordinary Time) illuminates Lincoln's political genius in this highly original work, as the one-term congressman/prairie lawyer rises from obscurity to prevail over three gifted rivals of national reputation to become President.
  Updated 10.24.05
• Abraham LIncoln: A Penguin Life
  Author: Keneally, Thomas
  Publisher: Viking $ 19.95 ISBN: 0670031755 Date: 2002
  Kirkus LJ
  The life of Lincoln is chronicled by the bestselling Booker Prize-winning author of Schindler's Ark, the basis for the film Schindler's List. Abraham Lincoln is an incisive study of a turning point in American history and a revealing portrait of its pivotal figure.
  Updated 10.25.05
• Lincoln: A Foreigner's Quest
  Author: Morris, Jan
  Publisher: Simon & Schuster $ 23 ISBN: 0684855151 Date: 2000
  Booklist
  With the magical blend of history and personal narrative that has made her a popular travel writer, Morris separates idolatry from truth in her journey through the life of Lincoln, our most revered president.
  Updated 10.24.05
• Lincoln's Melancholy: How Depression Challenged a President and Fueled His Greatness
  Author: Shenk, Joshua Wolf
  Publisher: Houghton $ 25 ISBN: 0618551166 Date: 2005
  Kirkus LJ
  Drawing on seven years of his own research and the work of other esteemed Lincoln scholars, Shenk reveals how the 16th president harnessed his depression to fuel his astonishing success.
  Updated 8.24.05
• The Intimate World of Abraham Lincoln
  Author: Tripp, C. A.
  Publisher: Free $ 27 ISBN: 0743266390 Date: 2005
  PW
  Drawn from his meticulous and sometimes startling research, world-renowned psychologist and sex researcher C.A. Tripp presents an all-new argument that will forever change the debate over the private life of one of America's most revered presidents.
  Updated 10.24.05
• Lincoln's Greatest Speech: the Second Inaugral
  Author: White, Ronald C.
  Publisher: Simon & Schuster $ 24 ISBN: 0743212983Date: 2002
  Booklist Kirkus
  In this insightful book, White shows how Lincoln's second inaugural address, delivered five-and-a-half weeks before the president's assassination, drew from the whole of his rhetorical genius, biblical learning, and a lifetime of moral contemplation.
  Updated 2.18.02
• Lincoln at Gettysburg: The Words that Remade America
  Author: Wills, Gary
  Publisher: Simon & Schuster $ 23 ISBN: 0671769561 Date: 1992
  Kirkus LJ PW
  Booklist Editors' Choice | ALA Notable
  Lincoln was asked to memorialize the grisly battle at Gettysburg. Instead, he gave the nation "a new birth of freedom"--by tracing its first birth to the Declaration of Independence, which called all men equal, rather than the Constitution, which tolerated slavery. Here is a brilliant account of the making of Lincoln's masterpiece.
  Updated 10.25.05
• April 1865: The Month That Saved America
  by Winik, Jay
  Publisher: HarperCollins $ 30 ISBN:0060187239 Date: 2001
  PW
  From a leading historian comes a powerful, iconoclastic narrative history of the final month of the Civil War, when Richmond fell, Lee surrendered at Appomattox, and Lincoln was assassinated. Outsized characters stalk through sweeping events in Winik's brilliant narrative.

For Youth

• Good Brother, Bad Brother: The Story of Edwin Booth and John Wilkes Booth
  Author: Giblin, James Cross
  Publisher: Clarion $ 22 ISBN: 0618096426 Date: 2005
  Booklist Bulletin Kirkus SLJ
  An award-winning author draws on firsthand accounts of family members, friends, and colleagues to create vivid images of famous 19th-century actor Edwin Booth and his brother John Wilkes, who shot President Lincoln. Illustrated with archival photographs.
  Grades: 5-9 Category: Nonfiction | History | Biography
  Updated 8.21.05
• Lincoln: In His Own Words
  Author: Meltzer, Milton (ed)
  Publisher: Harcourt $ 22.95 ISBN: 0152454373 Date: 1993
  Kirkus
  Noted historian and biographer Milton Meltzer brings Lincoln's words to life in this beautifully illustrated collection of our 16th president's speeches, letters, and writings. This book reveals Lincoln as a powerful communicator--one dedicated to the highest ideals of freedom, democracy, and equality. Includes profiles of Lincoln's contemporaries, a chronology, source notes, and an illustrator's note.
  Grades: 7+ Category: Nonfiction
• The Long Road to Gettysburg
  Author: Murphy, Jim
  Publisher: Clarion $ 18 ISBN: 0395559650 Date: 1992
  Booklist SLJ
  On June 3, 1863, 19-year-old Confederate Lieutenant John Dooley prepared to march on Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Thomas Galway, a 17-year-old corporal in the Union army, waited for the battle to begin. Drawing on the written accounts of these young soldiers, Murphy traces the circumstances leading to the dramatic battle and Lincoln's historic address.
  Grades: 3-6 Category: Nonfiction