A trio of pending juvenile delinquents is posted to a alternative school. This takes place in the not too distant future where the alternative school is a representation of a past history. It is designed to show difficult students how good current life is compared to what the world suffered in previous generations. A reasonable premise that is disrupted by a time traveling history buff from the future results in the trio taking an unwanted trip to the real past.
Mr. Kaufman’s premise for the History Camp series is close to my heart. I taught history for a few years and was always shocked at the frequency that history repeated itself primarily because we human beings refused to learn from history. History camp was a safe sanitized method of helping kids learn from history.
The characters are likeable, realistic and believable. Intellectually I have to wonder how modern kids would truly fare if thrust into a prior time. I have seen how tremendously resilient kids are and Kaufman’s postulating doesn’t seem too out of line with what kids could do.
It is inspiring to see how three less than stellar children rise to the challenge and survive in a dramatically different environment. I think the book will be an enjoyable read for a wide range in ages and may even get kids to ponder a bit upon life.
I highly recommend the book.
Body of work of Lory S. Kaufman
Web Site: http://www.history-camp.com/
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