Defend Until Death!: Nickolas Flux and the Battle of the Alamo

Nickolas Flux

by Nel Yomtov, Dante Ginevra (Illustrations)

When a spontaneous time leap sends Nickolas Flux back to the Battle of the Alamo, what's a teenage history buff to do? Join the ranks of the defenders, of course! From meeting Santa Anna to fighting alongside Davy Crockett, Nick must survive one of the most epic moments in Texas history.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Historical Fiction

40 pages, Library Binding

First published January 1, 2014

Reviews

[Andrew ✝️ · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I checked out all 10(?) of the graphic novels in this series, I had never even heard of Nickolas Flux. If it's from tv series, I wouldn't be a bit surprised. Each of these begin with the same 2 pages, and they honestly are worth re-reading each time because it's kind of like a tv show title sequence and the rest of the 34 pages are like a 15- or 30-minute episode. As I've typed four times now: Nickolas Flux has an uncontrollable ability to time travel backwards to points of historical significance. In the first, he found himself with the Boston Tea Party; in the second, he went back to the Salem Witch Trials; in the third, he went back to the California gold rush; and in this one, he meets both sides of the battle of the Alamo. While there's still no character development, these are surprisingly not just informative but also interesting. This one gets 4 stars.

[Nikki in Niagara · Rating 4 out of 5]

i am impressed with this new graphic history series from Capstone. I'm often picky with the use of time-travel, but when it comes to children's historical literature I do consider it to be a useful device as it places the modern child and his sensibilities back into the past and its way of life. Here Nickolas has a habit of just touching something and being zapped back to a relevant time in history. This time he doesn't have to touch, but while at a football game with friends he mentions the marching band looks like a 19th century army on the march and "zap" he finds himself on the march with an army ... the Mexican army. A good start to this topic and we first see the issue and battle from the Mexican point of view and understand what they are after. Then Nickolaus finds his way into the Alamo and onto the Texan side where he is given small but important duties. Many famous figures from history are included as the reader sees through Nickolas's eyes what happened at the Battle of the Alamo. Decent illustrations, written mostly in speech bubbles with a fact box at the bottom of most two-page spreads. I found this entertaining and provided a balanced opinion of the subject matter.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

While watching a high school football game and enjoying halftime festivities with his friends, Nickolas Flux makes an offhand remark about the marching band's resemblance to an army, and off he travels in time once again. He ends up traveling with General Santa Anna as he heads north to the Alamo to put those Americans in their place and take back the land for Mexico. Nickolas realizes he must warn the Texians about how large the forces that are heading their way are. Of course, he gets caught up in the events that occur during the Battle of the Alamo, and even though the fight is hopeless, he sees just how brave the men are. Short, simple, but containing facts intended to hold readers' interest, this graphic novel series just might make history buffs out of some of today's readers.

[Elle · Rating 4 out of 5]

On my second time traveling adventure with Nickolas Flux, the Alamo was used to demonstrate American heroes and their sacrifice to defend their homes. William Travis' letter for aid was added into the story and cited directly from the Texas State Library Archive. My only issue with the plot is the lack of question and concern his friends and classmates have with Nickolas' abrupt disappearances. How are they SO clueless?!?

[Colette · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a great way to learn about our history and heritage of Texas. I've lived here for the past 22 years, watched many western movies about the Alamo growing up, but didn't know the whole story. This little graphic novel sure helped my understanding of the events that led up to the fall of the Alamo. I will be purchasing more of Nickolas Flux's books about American history.