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Duel Across Time (1)
From Bret Baier, New York Times bestselling author, FOX News Chief Political Anchor, and host of Special Report with Bret Baier , comes the first book in a thrilling new time-bending graphic novel series about kids who use their love of history to thwart an evil time traveler’s scheme to change the past—perfect for fans of Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales!
Becca, Zack, Cam, and Thomas are best friends who may seem like an unlikely group on the surface but who have something very important in a love of history! Together, they make up their school’s history club that has an all-important secret stop the villainous History Twister’s plot to destroy the past, forever altering the future.
Knowledge of history is their superpower as they chase the Twister through time. After all, who knows what would have happened if Alexander Hamilton had lived and Aaron Burr had died in their infamous duel? It’s up to the History Club to save the world from utter destruction!
Becca, Zack, Cam, and Thomas are best friends who may seem like an unlikely group on the surface but who have something very important in a love of history! Together, they make up their school’s history club that has an all-important secret stop the villainous History Twister’s plot to destroy the past, forever altering the future.
Knowledge of history is their superpower as they chase the Twister through time. After all, who knows what would have happened if Alexander Hamilton had lived and Aaron Burr had died in their infamous duel? It’s up to the History Club to save the world from utter destruction!
128 pages, Hardcover
Published November 14, 2023
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About the author
Bret Baier
13 books205 followersWilliam Bret Baier is an American journalist and the host of Special Report with Bret Baier on the Fox News Channel and the chief political anchor for Fox. He previously worked as the network's Chief White House Correspondent and Pentagon correspondent.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
October 15, 2023
Garbage of a book.
You know it’s written by a Fox News hack when at every turn, the racism present throughout ALL of US history is absent. The barest acknowledgement of it is Zack fearing whether he will be safe while they carry out these missions. However, this is the only acknowledgement of racism in the book. In the 1960s, in the 1800s, when straight-up confronting actual slave owners armed with bayonets, there is no issue.
It is in the end a colorblind narrative, told as if racism and slavery were present, but that there were no material consequences or violent manifestations of white supremacist beliefs that undergird even the constitution itself. It likes to play pretend that while acknowledging that racism and slavery are bad, that they have no tangible effect on kids of color.
Really, Bret is doing more to rewrite history than the History Twister himself is. Although, it is very telling that apparently the History Twister decided to do everything he could to wreck history because he, as a white male 8th grader, got wrekt by the 6th and 7th grade protagonists during a history competition.
You know it’s written by a Fox News hack when at every turn, the racism present throughout ALL of US history is absent. The barest acknowledgement of it is Zack fearing whether he will be safe while they carry out these missions. However, this is the only acknowledgement of racism in the book. In the 1960s, in the 1800s, when straight-up confronting actual slave owners armed with bayonets, there is no issue.
It is in the end a colorblind narrative, told as if racism and slavery were present, but that there were no material consequences or violent manifestations of white supremacist beliefs that undergird even the constitution itself. It likes to play pretend that while acknowledging that racism and slavery are bad, that they have no tangible effect on kids of color.
Really, Bret is doing more to rewrite history than the History Twister himself is. Although, it is very telling that apparently the History Twister decided to do everything he could to wreck history because he, as a white male 8th grader, got wrekt by the 6th and 7th grade protagonists during a history competition.
March 27, 2024
White-washed history that ignores the reality of our past and perpetuates a narrow and inaccurate narrative.
February 3, 2024
I would have absolutely eaten this up as a kid. It feels like a new generation of the Liberty Kids or the Magic Tree House, which we were big fans of growing up. It is definitely for a younger audience, which the lack of subtly in it's themes points too. Sometimes it was annoying but I know it needs to be that obvious for younger readers to catch on. I did appreciate that it touched on themes like the difficulties that come with being a Black time traveler. It also touched on parental abandonment and found family, which was nice.
I kinda wish that it focused on a different historical event than Alexander Hamilton and Burrs duel. It think it was a choice made because of how popular that part of history has been recently and it might be a good entry point for kids to consider other parts of history. I just wish they would have chosen something else that had been less covered.
However, I could definitely see myself recommending this series to younger history lovers in my life and see strong potential if it continues.
I kinda wish that it focused on a different historical event than Alexander Hamilton and Burrs duel. It think it was a choice made because of how popular that part of history has been recently and it might be a good entry point for kids to consider other parts of history. I just wish they would have chosen something else that had been less covered.
However, I could definitely see myself recommending this series to younger history lovers in my life and see strong potential if it continues.
December 14, 2023
History, middle school, family life and a little sci fi magic all get mixed together to create the first book in The History Club series. The four friends and teammates of a middle school history club team up to stop a villain from attempting to manipulate time. The villain, the History Twister, is attempting to reverse the outcome of the famous Burr-Hamilton duel. I love how history and action are tied together. I also love the examples of friendship shown between the main characters. A positive, exciting, somewhat dorky (in a good way) graphic novel for upper elementary and middle schoolers.
February 14, 2024
Four friends who are members of the history club take on a villain who is trying to change events in the past to alter the future.
Students will pick this up for the colorful graphics, the action, time travel, magic, friendships, and other relatable themes. However, what they won't see is the extreme bias of the author who is the chief political anchor for Fox news. They won't see the whitewashing of history. They won't see the political agenda. They won't see, as Kirkus says "the transparent attempt to justify a monolithic version of US history."
Don't buy this book. Don't put it in your collections.
Students will pick this up for the colorful graphics, the action, time travel, magic, friendships, and other relatable themes. However, what they won't see is the extreme bias of the author who is the chief political anchor for Fox news. They won't see the whitewashing of history. They won't see the political agenda. They won't see, as Kirkus says "the transparent attempt to justify a monolithic version of US history."
Don't buy this book. Don't put it in your collections.
November 6, 2025
Holy cow this is a good book! Great inspiration for one of my projects too!
This is a perfect example of kids can handle harder topics than adults may think. The character, Thomas, has some struggles with an absent mother, and the other characters are pretty complex as well. And the plot twist at the end?? GOLDEN!
If you like history, time travel, sci-fi stories, or all of those combined, check this book out ASAP!
(Also, middle-grade literally is the best genre idk what to tell ya it just is haha)
This is a perfect example of kids can handle harder topics than adults may think. The character, Thomas, has some struggles with an absent mother, and the other characters are pretty complex as well. And the plot twist at the end?? GOLDEN!
If you like history, time travel, sci-fi stories, or all of those combined, check this book out ASAP!
(Also, middle-grade literally is the best genre idk what to tell ya it just is haha)
March 5, 2024
Thomas, Cam, Becca, and Zack are members of their school's history club, but winning tournaments is only a small piece of what they do. They also travel back in time to thwart the plans of the evil History Twister, who has plans to disrupt history for his own nefarious purposes.
November 20, 2023
Not recommended. Whitewashed, biased look at historical events. Will not put in my school library.
July 9, 2024
Another good book the idea was clever could be a bit more interesting but a good book can’t wait to read the next one.
February 28, 2025
Fun way to learn about history, wish there where more books in the series beside just this one.
July 24, 2023
Cute! An history lesson in an action packed graphic novel. Love the teams dynamic, the straightforward discussions of consequences, and most of all I loved Thomas!
This will be a fun, informative series as it comes out, I’m excited to see what pieces of history Baier chooses next!
This will be a fun, informative series as it comes out, I’m excited to see what pieces of history Baier chooses next!
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews