A History of US: War, Peace, and All That Jazz: 1918-1945A History of US Book Nine

A History of US #9

by Joy Hakim

Recommended by the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts and Literacy as an exemplary informational text.

From woman's suffrage to Babe Ruth's home runs, from Louis Armstrong's jazz to Franklin Delano Roosevelt's four presidential terms, from the finale of one world war to the dramatic close of the second, War, Peace, and All That Jazz presents the story of some of the most exciting years in U.S. history. With the end of World War I, many Americans decided to live it up, going to movies, driving cars, and cheering baseball games a plenty. But alongside this post WWI spree was high unemployment, hard times for farmers, ever present racism, and, finally, the Depression, the worst economic disaster in U.S. history, flip flopping the nation from prosperity to scarcity. Along came one of our country's greatest leaders, F.D.R., who promised a New Deal, gave Americans hope, and then saw them through the horrors and victories of World War II. These three decades full of optimism and despair, progress and Depression, and, of course, War, Peace, and All That Jazz forever changed the United States.

About the
Master storyteller Joy Hakim has excited millions of young minds with the great drama of American history in her award-winning series A History of US. Recommended by the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts and Literacy as an exemplary informational text, A History of US weaves together exciting stories that bring American history to life. Hailed by reviewers, historians, educators, and parents for its exciting, thought-provoking narrative, the books have been recognized as a break-through tool in teaching history and critical reading skills to young people. In ten books that span from Prehistory to the 21st century, young people will never think of American history as boring again.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, School, Read For School, American History, Historical, Reference

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

I've just updated A HISTORY OF US to include some new stories, especially those on people who haven't had their full story told, like Native Americans and African Americans. I've been astounded by some of what I've learned, I think you will be too.


My husband and I live most of the year in Colorado. I grew up in Rutland, Vermont and graduated from Rutland High School. I earned a bachelor's degree in government at Smith College, a master's degree in education from Goucher College, as well as an honorary doctorate from Goucher.

I've been a teacher: in Syracuse, New York; Omaha, Nebraska; and Virginia Beach, Virginia. And I've taught in elementary school, middle school, high school, and in a community college.

I've also been a newspaper woman: a general reporter, a business reporter, and an associate editor and editorial writer at Norfolk's Virginian-Pilot.

We have three children and five grandchildren.

from: http://www.joyhakim.com/biography.html

Reviews

[Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

War, Peace, and All That Jazz: 1918-1945 is the very best book for information about the aftermath of World War I all the way to the end of World War II. This bok talks about Hitler before the rise of Nazi Germany, D-Day, Allies and Axis, and important people that weren't part if the war.

[Kevin Keating · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this book. Hakim's style of writing is almost as though it were a child's book. It's very first-person and often asks questions of the reader and tells him/her to go back and remember stuff. It's almost conversational and satisfying, while still getting the overview of much of the history. It seems to me it would be much less boring than other histories for middle schoolers and would teach the non-prodigies better.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

For my daughter and I, this was one of the best books in this series!

[Carly Seifert · Rating 4 out of 5]

This has been one of my favorites in the series.

[Blake · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was book 9 and I will not read the others. For the most part however the book was good. however I feel it appeared to be written by a person of liberal and anti republican thinking. I am concerned that the youth of today would not realize the price of freedoms that get lost when socialism's and programs that encourage many social programs are implemented. Its a very fine line that must be walked when writing history.

[Emily · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't care for the authors rather socialistic anti-republican view which is easily seen

[X · Rating 4 out of 5]

A history book that I randomly found on Audible+ because I was looking for nonfiction. Didn't realize that it was aimed at children but I guess I shouldn't have been super surprised either. Kinda skims over a lot of things in a very simple way which is not my favorite way to learn history. But it's fine. I feel like the author tells the reader what to think a lot and I was craving more actual depth. It's not that I particularly disagree with her assessments but I would have liked to have felt like I had the information to make assessments myself. And I think being aimed at children makes this even worse rather than better: I'd like kids to be learning critical thinking skills and not opinions to regurgitate. Wasn't bad when it came to just getting an overview and learning some random facts.

[Hank Pharis · Rating 2 out of 5]

As with the other volumes in this series a helpful overview/review.

(Note: I'm stingy with stars. For me 2 stars means a good book. 3 = Very good; 4 = Outstanding {only about 5% of the books I read merit this}; 5 = All time favorites {one of these may come along every 400-500 books})

[boaz galil · Rating 4 out of 5]

I already knew a lot about this period in time so I didn't learn as much as I learned in previous books (World war 2 is being covered pretty good in Israel high school) - having said that, I still enjoy the book.

[emyrose8 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love that there are so many photos in here. The book is very thorough and touches on lots of history I only vaguely remember from high school/college. The tone is conversational and easy to read. Great resource for history buffs/teachers!

[Laura Lane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy to understand text.Jot Hakim is a good storyteller.

[Bon Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was fun. I learned about US history. War peace and all that jazz was a good book.

[Kathleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Our series of books for history ...LOVE!!!

[Sunny Kim]

This book was ok I liked how it talked about stuff I don’t like history but it’s ok.

[Colin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series is consistently good!

[Dannie · Rating 1 out of 5]

How can this be considered a "thorough and accurate narrative" of the years covering 1918 - 1945 when it doesn't mention the Tulsa Race Massacre, the Red Summer of 1919, or even lynching? Also remarkable for a book covering this time period, the word holocaust is also never used, and no definition is ever provided for concentration camps.

[Madilyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

8Y, Review 7, 224 pages, 4/28/2016

History is an intriguing part of us. We can learn from it, and we can know what mistakes (as mankind) we made. The book A History of US: War, Peace, and All That Jazz: 1918-1945, written by Joy Hakim, deals with a time period where we had both the good times and the bad times. Even though this chapter of history is certainly not one that’s my favorite, it is nonetheless important to know about the events in this book.

A literary device that is effectively used in this book is imagery. Although there are often things to the side of each page (or most of them), there are vivid descriptions within the text as well. For example, when the author describes the island Guadalcanal, they say, "From the air, Guadalcanal looks like a heavenly place: very green, with high mountains, thick forests, and jungles filled with wild orchids and bright-feathered and beaked tropical birds." This imagery helps us connect with the time period.

Another effective literary element in this book is amplification. In other words, it is expanding a sentence to make it more descriptive and understandable. With the audience that would read this book, it may not be that much of a surprise that this is used. An example of this device in the book is where it says, "It had to do with a science—at least, some people thought it was a science."

Overall, I like this book very much. It has the capability to bring you back to a time period less than 100 years ago through its imagery, amplification, and other literary devices that I didn't mention. I'd recommend this book to anyone who likes history or wants to learn about this particular chapter in the history of mankind. Even then, I'd still want you to read this literature: we must remember both the good times and the bad times, and avoid the mistakes of the past. As we go through our world today, we need to make sure to remember the past.

[Jenevieve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Middle-School History covering 1918-1945. Model T's, wood-frame airplanes, radios, Prohibition, jazz, the Roaring Twenties, Babe Ruth, flappers, the Depression, and two World Wars...all in a thirty-year span. That pretty much gives a good summary of what you find in this book. I've noticed that now that things are getting closer to modern times, the jumping around is much less and the author makes it a point to detail a lot more than what I remember learning about from my history classes, middle and high school. I knew there had been a WWI but had no idea who it concerned or how it ended much less that it had paved the way for WWII. I had a basic knowledge of Jazz and it's roots but not the bigger picture that was shown in this book. I knew about the Depression and Black Friday but not the events that had led up to it. That to me is what is truly important about history, not just knowing about the big events but how those came about and what they caused.

[Kerry · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was taking a history class when I listened to this book. I have a hard time memorizing facts that are meaningless to me. This book was told like a story and it was easy to follow and relate to the characters and so some of it at least stuck in my brain. I'm not a history buff by any stretch of the imagination - so this was a perfect way for me to learn about this period in history.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not sure why I was giving the earlier volumes in this series only 2 stars. The writing is totally corny in many places, and obviously a lot of information is overly simplified for this format, but as I finish the series, I appreciate the project of it more. The special section on art in the 9th book was a nice bonus too.

[Evelynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not very interested in this particular time period for the U.S., but I do find the information about both World Wars fascinating. The last few chapters covering the second World War really brought the devastation that the first atomic bombs created to life, and it's heartbreaking that we had to go to such measures to end that terrible war.

[Ron · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read War, Peace, and All That Jazz in the evening with my son as part of his history curriculum. It covered both world wars very briefly and with misplaced emphasis especially in regard top WWII events. Still a decent coverage of Depression America.

[Elizabeth Shamblin]

Wonderful writer, wonderful series. Not just for kids at all. I wish I owned the whole set. Instead, I borrowed it from the library and read it a little bit a week, at lunch to my captive lunch audience (Scott and Will).

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

A review of U.S history from 1918-1945

[Conner · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a book full of facts and infomation. It has good facts and history. It is from 1918-1945. It was an ok book

[Theresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

great information broken down for children at an elementary reading level a good childrens resource with text, pictures and informationa but the us history

[Judy]

Interesting way to read the history of US

[Skye · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book to go with the rest of the series.

[Dexter · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoy the style of these history books, which means that I feel like I've actually learned and retained some knowledge when I finish them. A good general history book about the early/mid 1900s.

[Ariel Paiement · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was wonderful! I loved it and like all the books before it, this one was easy to understand and provided good, solid information!