The Thrifty Guide to the American Revolution: A Handbook for Time Travelers

The Thrifty Guides to History #1

by Jonathan W. Stokes

From the publishing house that brought you the Who Was? books comes the next big series to make history approachable, engaging, and funny!

The Thrifty Guide to the American Revolution provides useful information for the practical time traveler, like:

- Where can I find a decent hotel room in colonial New England? Are major credit cards accepted?
- How do I join the Boston Tea Party without winding up in a British prison?
- How can I score a lunch with Alexander Hamilton?

This guide answers these fiery, burning questions with the marshmallows of information. There is handy advice on how to join Paul Revere's spy ring at the Green Dragon Tavern, how to enlist in General Washington's rebel army, and how to summon the strength to storm a British gun battery when you haven't eaten for three days.

If you had a time travel machine and could take a vacation anywhere in history, this is the only guidebook you would need!

Genres: Middle Grade, History, Nonfiction, Humor, Time Travel, Childrens, American Revolution

160 pages, Unjacketed paper-over-board

First published January 15, 2018

About the author

Jonathan Stokes is a screenwriter living in Los Angeles. He has written on assignment for Fox, Paramount, Universal, Warner Brothers, New Line, and Sony. He is the author of several upcoming kids' books being published by Penguin Random House. Jonathan is a street taco aficionado, an urban explorer, and koala enthusiast.

Reviews

[Evan Kennedy · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The Thrifty Guide to Ancient Rome: A Handbook for Time Travelers" is so brilliant, I must procreate to broaden its intended audience. Giggles and groan-worthy jokes distill the massive subject of Empire to bare essentials---survival. It's like a stepping stone to Carcopino's "Daily Life in Ancient Rome"; neither book turns a blind eye to the era's depravity, which I hope is more cautionary than "how to" for today's seventh graders.

Readers might be surprised what draws their attention. Stoned and hugging my heater during another brutal winter here in San Francisco, CA, I became transfixed by the Thrifty Guide's life of Julius Caesar. It's funny that the book's succinct anecdotes seemingly adapted to my compromised faculties. Until reading this Guide, I focused on cults and religious life in Ancient Rome (you know, Magna Mater, Mithras, Isis, etc.), but now in this new year, 2021, I'm disturbed to fulfill a stereotype identified last week by felisa navidad (@lisatomic5): "men will literally learn everything about ancient Rome instead of going to therapy" (12/30/20, 1:13 PM, Twitter for iPhone).

Looking to antiquity, we confront ourselves. Maybe we don't need therapy, yes? "The Thrifty Guide to Ancient Rome" is a perfect springboard to Dame Mary Beard (Magna Mater of BBC and YouTube, as well as professor and author and shiny-shoed bicyclist whose tires we're unworthy to kiss), and from her, deep into the past.

If you choose that backward direction, see you tonight at Ovid's reading. Let's drink less this time and block his vantage onto any indiscretion going on. I want him to write much longer, and thanks to Mr. Stokes's Thrifty Guide, we may extend Ovid's life, or an artifact of it. Fasti, perhaps, is complete.

[evie *s-ia* · Rating 5 out of 5]

the nerd in me coming out every time i remember i own the full series:

[Mehsi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Je hebt een tijdmachine, nou dan wil je vast wel eens naar het spannende Oude Rome gaan, toch? Dan moet je zeker dit boek met je meenemen!

Ik ben echt een fan van geschiedenisboeken die geschiedenis op een leuke, grappige en interessante manier brengen. Zoals de Horrible Histories boeken van Scholastic. En nu heb ik deze serie gevonden. Dit is, voor mij in ieder geval, het eerste boek maar ik kijk nu al uit naar de rest van de serie. Ik ben ook zeker van plan om ze te kopen zodra ze in het Engels uit zijn in paperback. Tot die tijd ga ik ze in het Nederlands uit de bibliotheek halen.

Dit boek is voor de tijdreizigers onder ons. Yep, tijdreizen. Iets wat in 2149 voor iedereen beschikbaar werd. En daarna volledig werd uitgebuit door de heersende groep, Chronos BV. onder leiding van Adam Redkill. Dank je wel naar de schrijver dat je deze naam niet hebt vertaald. Dit boek is niet alleen een boek over reizen naar Rome, maar ook over Chronos/Adam Redkill, hoe tijdreizen werkt. Af en toe krijgen we dus extra commentaren (voetnoten) van Adam of van schrijvers die er werken.

Maar het meeste van het boek is over Rome. Welke dingen je het beste kunt bezoeken, welke restaurants echt helemaal toppie zijn (en welke je dus het beste kunt ontwijken tenzij je het niet erg vindt om continue een volle wc hoi te zeggen), wat voor datums het leukst zijn om te bezoeken. Alhoewel leuk, sommige evenementen zijn ronduit gruwelijk maar ja voor ieder wat wils natuurlijk. We krijgen ook nog tips over hoe je barbaren moet ontwijken, hoe je beter niet je hoofd kan kwijtraken. Ja, je hoofd kwijtraken, die romeinen vonden het echt helemaal tof om hoofden af te hakken (of zagen als het niet lukte). Het is dus een kunst om niet je hoofd kwijt te raken, maar ja, dat is maar een van de dingen waar je moet opletten. Die romeinen houden ook nog wel van slaven. Iedereen en alles kan een slaaf worden gemaakt. En heb ik al verteld over dat ze het leuk vinden om mensen uit het publiek te trekken en die voor de leeuwen te voeren? Nee, wel, dan weet je het nu.

Ik lag regelmatig helemaal dubbel, om de recensies, om de verhalen over bekende/beruchte mensen, over het veel te ingewikkelde liefdesleven van iedereen (ja, iedereen doet het met iedereen wat tot best wat chaotische taferelen leidde), om de tips en de hints en de grappige manier van vertellen. Ja, deze schrijver heeft een heerlijke schrijfstijl die je aan het lachen maakt, het interessant houdt, en ook er voor zorgt dat je dingen onthoudt. Ik heb ook genoeg stukjes voorgelezen aan mijn verloofde die ook heerlijk dubbel lag.

Ik vond het wel interessant om te zien dat het blijkbaar niet uitmaakt wat je doet in het verleden want blijkbaar gaat Chronos.Bv toch wel achter alles om het te fixen. Dus laat je je smartphone vallen? Of laat je een T-rex los? Geen probleem! Dit kan allemaal worden opgelost.

Er zijn ook genoeg illustraties en ik vond de stijl echt heel erg leuk en passend bij het verhaal.

Al met al, ik hoop dat ik snel ook het andere boek in mijn handen krijg, ik wil wel eens zien wat de hotspots zijn in het oude Griekenland. Ik zou dit boek echt aan iedereen aanraden en ik hoop dat er nog bergen van deze boeken uitkomen.

Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com/

[Small Review · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was fun! Definitely reading more from this series.

[da_dan471 (Daniel) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has no plot and no story or characters (expect for everyone that actually existed in the American revolution) and is a good history/ sci-fi book

[Bexa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read for Battle of the Books.

While parts of this were entertaining, and the history is pretty much accurate besides the asides (his bibliography is pretty much the essential books for the Revolutionary War), a lot of this felt slow? I'm not sure that's the accurate word there, but with the interjections of letters from Time Patrol or the Complaint Department, or all the footnotes to make quips that weren't really important to the story and were just trying to be funny, this took me a longer time to read then it should. I did enjoy the "People to have lunch with" and again, the history is really accurate if not as graphic, though you are told many times that you're probably just going to die on your vacation and they hope you bought their life insurance. I can definitely see young boys reading this and enjoy learning about how to load a musket and that if a cannon ball is coming towards you, you and all 39 friends with you will probably be dead.

[Mehsi · Rating 5 out of 5]

My fourth Thrifty Guide and this time we are heading into the American Revolution. How it started and how it all ended.


I was very happily surprised when I found out about this book. The other books have been translated to Dutch and are found in stores and libraries here and so I thought there weren’t any others. So imagine my delight to find another book in the series. I guess I can understand why this may not have been translated and the others have. The others are subjects that are much more popular with the kids here, more known as well, I don’t think a lot of kids here would care about the American Revolution.

In this book we learn all about the American Revolution, and while I did have fun reading it… it was also a tad boring at times. Whereas I greatly enjoyed the other three books and gave them 5 stars (and would even rate them higher), this one is more a 3, maybe 3.5. I mostly picked this up because it was Thrifty Guide. But whereas the other books dive into so many paths concerning their topic, this was just battles, battles, famous dudes (and some ladies), battles, battles. I get that it is about the Revolution, but I would have liked maybe a bit more on the whole what people do in their daily life, jobs, how cities grew, slavery/the slaves who freed themselves. Just like how the other books showed battles but also other important topics.

But there were fun parts about this book, mostly the stuff made to look like a review for a place or some hilarious bits on how you could change history a bit by adding x or y. Or the parts about the time travel. Though I also did like reading about some of the famous guys (and girls) in the AR. And sure, some of the battles were pretty great, especially seeing how the American army went from tiny and very ill equipped and no battle experience to more and more skilled and better at tactics and with more weapons.

Maybe this book is more interesting to an American or someone who is into the subject or loves reading about battles, but for me it just wasn’t that interesting. Sadly.

This one is going on the sell/donate stack (should really get to setting up something for that). I do hope that Jonathan W. Stokes makes more books in the Thrifty Guide series, I would love a book about Egypt.

Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com/

[Karsyn]

Meh. Good for kids who want to know about the American Revolution with some humor mixed in. Not good for adults who usually enjoy reading MG books. Just dull, though it made me laugh once. DNF @ 23%.

[Valerie McEnroe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Other than a little bit of silliness at the beginning, I loved the humorous tone of this Revolutionary War book. Time Corp has you covered when it comes to traveling back in time to relive historical events. Grab your gear. Get involved in a battle. Have lunch with a founding father. It is a dangerous mission, so Time Corp strongly recommends you buy insurance. Choose the American Revolution package at your own risk.

Covers all the major events and battles: Boston massacre, Lexington and Concord, Ticonderoga, Bunker Hill, Brooklyn, Trenton, Valley Forge, Saratoga, Yorktown. At first I didn't think the whole time travel thing was going to work, but actually, I think it helps put the reader right there in the middle of the craziness. Kids will love this series.

[Sesana · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not really what I expected, and not, I think, what the title implies it would be. There's not much in the way of actual "travel" information. Instead, it's a very short retelling of the American Revolution that's trying desperately to be funny. The You Wouldn't Want to... series (see You Wouldn't Want to Be a Roman Gladiator!) is a lot more interesting and a lot funnier.

[Melanie Dulaney · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s a good thing I don’t give up easily because the first dozen or so pages of this light-hearted look at the American Revolution were ridiculous and will not appeal to my library patrons who are looking to read about American history. But once I got past all the chatter about the risks of time travel and the antics of the supposed discoverer of how to go back to the past, author Jonathan Stokes writes an smoothly flowing narrative on the war between the colonists and the British army. Sidebars with interesting tidbits and trivia, well-drawn diagrams of period clothing, humorous (and mostly factual) instruction on things like how to fire a musket and more are sprinkled throughout and may even encourage readers who are to generally fans of non-fiction to try a more informational text. This book is a JLG selection for summer 2018 and I’m going to keep it on my scheduled list of deliveries and see how it is received by my upper elementary readers. I will, however, warn them that the beginning is pretty goofy and to look forward to the kid-friendly extras, easy to read text, and excellent drawings. Recommended with reservations for grades 4-7, especially those with an interest in war-related topics. ( Review of digital ARC from Edelweiss Plus)

[John August · Rating 5 out of 5]

Educational, yes, but also really funny. The conceit of the series is that in the future, time-traveling tourists often visit notable moments in history, and that this book was accidentally discovered by present-day New Yorkers who published it. The result is a very off-axis look at what daily life is like in Ancient Rome. I could imagine some teachers bristling at it’s time; it gleefully talks public toilets and gladiator battles. But kids will actually want to read this, and they’re likely to retain much more than they would from a drier account. And for adults, there’s a Hitchhiker’s Guide quality to it that will make you want to read it with them.

[Melinda Brasher · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really, really enjoyed this…in a way that made me grateful I don't live in Ancient Rome.

I'm not expert enough to talk about how accurately the author portrayed Ancient Rome, but it felt right in a kid-friendly, History-Lite sort of way.

The concept was clever, the history interesting, the pacing fast, the humor good without being over the top. The little sidebars, illustrations, and notes from the corporate overlord were all great additions.

I think this book makes history incredibly accessible…which is something we really need.

I can't wait to read the others in the series.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

The section entitled "Cleopatra's Totally Normal Family Tree" is an especial highlight, but this whole book is a fun way to learn about the Roman Empire, from food to hygiene to the craziest emperors. The reading level is more chapter book, but the humor makes it a safer bet for middle grade readers, but adults shouldn't shy away from this either - it's just a lot of fun.

[Tara · Rating 4 out of 5]

First published in 2164, a New York publishing house decided to republish a series of time travel guides found after being carelessly left behind by a time-traveling tourist. Their attempts to get permission were unsuccessful because... well... nobody really knows how to contact the future yet. But the carelessness of a few serves to benefit those of us living in this century, as you'll discover if you pick up this witty look at a pivotal time in the history of our country - and with just enough time to fully absorb it before our celebration of independence on July 4th!

If you are a fan of Colonial America - this will have some information you are already familiar with - but also tidbits of information that you will find new and of interest. Written with a sarcastic tone, even those who aren't big fans of history will enjoy the tongue-and-cheekiness of this book by Jonathan W. Stokes.

Readers of The Thrifty Guide to the American Revolution: A Handbook for Time Travelers will enjoy various communications exposing the shallow greediness of Finn Greenquill, Time Corp's Corporate Overlord - and may feel the urge to boo him like a villain in a melodrama. Including features like a rating scale supplied by time-traveling tourists for the Green Dragon Tavern - and information on which inns accept credit cards - as well as insider tips of "People to Have Lunch With" - you will make your way through this historically dangerous time with a smile on your face.

With a Lexile measure of 1000, the vocabulary and complexity will be a fit for grades 7 and above. As someone who has taught a unit on the American Revolution when it was a 5th-grade standard, I would definitely bring in parts or most of this as a read-aloud in the classroom! If you have an interest in checking it out for small group reading, the guiding reading level is Y. You may have the rest of the class dropping eaves as you discuss this fun and information book!
The Thrifty Guide to the American Revolution: A Handbook for Time Travelers

[Cindy Mitchell *Kiss the Book* · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stokes, Jonathan W. The Thrifty Guide to the American Revolution A Handbook for Time Travelers, 137 pages. NON-FICTION. Viking (Penguin Random House), 2018. $14. Language: G (0 swears); Mature Content: G; Violence: PG.

Premise: It’s 2164 and time travel is possible. This is a guidebook provided by Time Corp for travelers to the American Revolution giving them background on the events they will see, specific dates to travel to and what is happening on those dates. Battles and events are described succinctly and humorously, including a chart for each battle with the “score” and who won (death count, wounded and captured included) Important historical figures are highlighted with a short biography as “people to have lunch with” and include Phillis Wheatley, Benjamin Franklin, Betsy Ross, Alexander Hamilton and John Paul Jones and others. It contains hints on survival - like how to load and fire a musket, what to do if you are shot by a musket, or shot at by a cannon, or if you are taken prisoner by the British.

What a fun way to get a overview of the Revolutionary War! I was impressed and entertained. The history is accurate with lots of interesting points - like how Lieutenant George Washington’s experience in 1754 made him the best qualified to lead the whole army by 1776. The pen and ink illustrations are delightful and add context. Includes maps - which contain only the specific details the text are referring to, and footnotes which add a little more context but are usually funny. The bibliography is short - only 5 books long. A great springboard for a longer study of the Revolution, and could also be used to summarize the battles and events for a history class. I was skeptical because of the premise, but found it to be quite a good read and very entertaining. It looks like it will become a series.

MS - ADVISABLE Lisa Librarian
https://kissthebook.blogspot.com/2018...

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Premise: It’s 2164 and time travel is possible. This is a guidebook provided by Time Corp for travelers to the American Revolution giving them background on the events they will see, specific dates to travel to and what is happening on those dates. Battles and events are described succinctly and humorously, including a chart for each battle with the “score” and who won (death count, wounded and captured included) Important historical figures are highlighted with a short biography as “people to have lunch with” and include Phillis Wheatley, Benjamin Franklin, Betsy Ross, Alexander Hamilton and John Paul Jones and others. It contains hints on survival - like how to load and fire a musket, what to do if you are shot by a musket, or shot at by a cannon, or if you are taken prisoner by the British.

What a fun way to get a overview of the Revolutionary War! I was impressed and entertained. The history is accurate with lots of interesting points - like how Lieutenant George Washington’s experience in 1754 made him the best qualified to lead the whole army by 1776. The pen and ink illustrations are delightful and add context. Includes maps - which contain only the specific details the text are referring to, and footnotes which add a little more context but are usually funny. The bibliography is short - only 5 books long. A great springboard for a longer study of the Revolution, and could also be used to summarize the battles and events for a history class. I was skeptical because of the premise, but found it to be quite a good read and very entertaining. It looks like it will become a series.

Cross-posted to http://kissthebook.blogspot.com CHECK IT OUT!

[The Erudite Gryffinclaw · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is an interesting way to share history with children, or people who are tired of the overly in detail history books.

I liked the humor while at the same time being serious about the American Revolutionary war. The commentary and foot notes are definitely something you don't want to miss reading. My favorite bit was about the incompetency of British General Howe. I also liked it that there were "Reviews" of places that the battles and meetings took place. Such as a review of the Green Dragon, and Valley Forge. I liked it that the book covered some of the technology of that time, such as, what was your chances of getting hit by a musket ball if you were toward the back of the formation.

What I didn't like, I didn't like it that it that the book was a brief over view of the American Revolution. I was looking forward to when George Washington returned General Howe's dog. (This actually happened. Don't believe me then please look it up.) Unfortunately that wasn't in the book, because the author did skip talking about some the battles the American army lost.

Over all, I enjoied the book and I would recomend it and I look forward to reading the other Thrifty Time Traveler books.

[Kate N. Ewing · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book, and I think it would appeal to middle schoolers with its tongue-in-cheek humor. I just wish the author would have cited references for his many nuggets of history. There is a brief bibliography of adult books, but no footnotes, listing of sources or books or websites interested students could pursue. That is why it has to be classified as fiction, along with its injections of comments regarding the cheeky time travel premise it is based on. An adult who already knows the history can recognize facts and popular quotes, but how does a person new to this subject know for sure what’s true, and what's part of the overall lark? These days we are struggling more than ever to teach students to cite references, thus providing verifiable sources. This is important if they are ever to understand the difference between facts and suppositions. The maps also leave a lot to be desired. It would have been helpful to have a larger map with reference points to the smaller maps, to make the position of battles clearer.

So this is not a serious work of nonfiction, but still as an entertaining intro to the American Revolution, there is definitely a place for it in the library, and with thoughtful use, possibly in the classroom as well.

[Amy-Jo Conant · Rating 3 out of 5]

Here are my notes while I read -

A very fun concept. Perfect for 5th graders studying the revolution. I’m enjoying the bits of history rolled up in humor wit and a wee bit of cheek.

It can be a bit choppy and kids with little background knowledge might be less engaged. Kind of reminds me of lonely planet guide book.

Kids aren’t going to be able to fly through this as they normally do. With all the information they will be forced to slow and make connections to background knowledge or store the information for future learning.

I love history so this is super fun for me. I’m not sure a wide range of students will have the stamina for it. Perhaps though it would make a very fun read aloud while students are studying the revolution. It’s a very different kid friendly approach and I could see them getting excited over it and conversations opening up and even some joking around. Probably best reception would come from group reading if this.

If you have history fans I’m sure they will get a kick out if this but I’m not sure it’s meant to play to a wide general audience. A fun niche book that teachers could read as a read aloud or even read sections that pertain to the events students are studying.

[Melinda Brasher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Funny and informative, this is another great book in the series, and a clever way to get kids (and adults) interested in history.

I didn't enjoy it quite as much as the Thrifty Guide to Ancient Rome, partly because so much of this one was focused on battles, but I still enjoyed it a lot. The author did a great job of breaking it up (like a real guidebook) with sections like "people to have dinner with," accommodations reviews, letters from Time Corp, and instructions on how to, say, avoid cannon balls. There are also lots of nice maps, graphs, illustrations, etc.

And so much clever humor. Great job.

Note: I'm not a history buff enough to vouch for its accuracy.

More accurate rating: 4+

[Colleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this was a clever idea on how to get kids interested in history. I thought it was very informative as well as irreverent. While the book is about the American Revolution, it is told as if it is a travel guide by this fictional time travel company run by a not so nice guy. The parts that talked specifically about Time Corp will probably make some kids laugh.

Verdict: A fun way to learn about the American Revolution. It also mentions some people from this time period that are not always mentioned, such as Samuel Poor.

[Mary · Rating 2 out of 5]

Written tongue-in-cheek for a greedy man who owns the Time Corp travel service, Finn Greenquill with through you into dangerous historical situations at your own peril. Short chapters and plenty of sidebars help the reader. A few of the sidebars and most of the footnotes are cheap shots at the travel agency.
Might appeal to geeks for a laugh.
I fear some reluctant readers would not want to invest the effort as this is all over the place. Sort of a Mad Magazine presents history.

[Molly Cluff (Library!) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely an engaging and entertaining format to help kids learn about history. I loved the quirky stories (especially the one about Thomas Jefferson sending a dead moose to the French). I think my favorite part was all the sections making fun of General Howe's battle strategies.

I'd probably recommend this to kids in 5th grade+ (just because the war is bloody and rough no matter how you try to spin it for kids).

[Taun · Rating 3 out of 5]

An overview of the major happenings of the American Revolution. The book takes a humorous, to the point of not-so-funny-anymore, look at the people, places, and dates of this vastly important part of American history.

Okay for supplement reading, not enough for a comprehensive look at the war. Has some fun trivia, tho I personally didn’t enjoy the notes, etc about Time Corp that had nothing to do with the subject.

Three stars is probably generous, I’d likely rate it more towards 2.5.

[Skylar Newbury · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Thrifty Guide To The American Revolution

This was the one I was most excited about considering I am a civil/revolutionary war buff, and I wasn’t disappointed. If this book was published back when I was first starting to learn U.S. history it most definitely would have been one of my favorites. The book is written just like the Ancient Rome one was, so yet again, this book will be perfect for any teacher who is trying to teach their students about the war. It includes many part’s of the war that not many books do, like little snippets of important members of society at the time, that not many people know about. It includes lot’s of information that history books don’t, but things that kids will care about, like
* A look into individual battles, and their casualties
Little events that happened during the war
Humor in general
I found myself laughing to a lot of the parts of this book.

Yet again, like the last book, this book is very easy to understand while still providing a chock full of info about the war. I would recommend it to anyone.

I thank the publisher for providing me with a advanced copy's of the book, though it did not effect my review at all.

[Diana · Rating 3 out of 5]

So, yes, this book made me laugh out loud a few times. That's a good thing. But I found that it was a tough book to get into. The history itself was fine, and I think this book would work well for an introductory study into the American Revolution. I even learned something! Really, though, it's the asides and offhand comments that make this book fun.

[Landon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the exact kind of book that my reader craves! I hope Stokes will write more like this; my kiddo is almost done with the Ancient Rome one, as well. This is a good hybrid book for a person who likes narrative nonfiction.

[Pam · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting concept but I don't think the book pulls off what it attempts. I can't quite gauge for which age group this would be appropriate. It was somewhat entertaining, but not sure all the facts built into the narrative are accurate.

[Mauri Baumann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very Dave Barry, but for children. Good sections to pay attention to : People to have lunch with, and Pranking the Past. I really enjoyed it. I didn't know that the idea for wearing powdered wigs came
from dealing with syphillis.