Newsflash: Assignments are coming in! (2 new added 3/22/10)


FINALLY! A young adult nonfiction book that's NOT about "your changing body!"

Above: Washington rebels against the British
(and the basic rules of boat safety) in 1776.

THE SMART ALECK'S GUIDE
TO AMERICAN HISTORY

by Adam Selzer
and the Smart Aleck Staff

"In the vein of Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert...witty, comedic and appealing..."

- School Library Journal

"Speeding along on humor, Daily Show-style...the laugh-out-loud approach should win over reluctant readers."
- Publisher's Weekly

"Pretty darn entertaining...valuable lessons about info-literacy...will enlighten, entertain, and might well motivate students to go on to check out in-depth books."
- Richie's Picks



It's hard to believe, but most history textbooks never make a single joke about General Ambrose Burnside's facial hair! That's him on the right. He helped win the Civil War*, which ought to count for something, but LOOK at the guy!



Now, at long last, there's a history book that dares to take cheap shots at comical mustaches! It's more factual than the new Texas history textbooks will be - and a whole lot funnier!


Many people have tried to write "smart alecky "history books, but most of them end up spending all of their energy patting themselves on the back for being "politically incorrect" or trying to make Abe Lincoln look like a racist. That's not our style. The Founding Fathers may have been a bunch of jerks with wild sex lives in private, but they DID form a new nation that has lasted over two centuries, which is more than YOU did. We're not trying to make them look bad... we're just not above cracking jokes about their stupid hats and striped spandex pantaloons** .

There's no better way to make history come alive without somebody dying of scurvy!

Here at our webpage, you'll find a few samples from the book to give you some idea of what we're all about, plus a bunch of supplemental material (the kind of stuff more reputable textbooks usually have in the back of the book), as well as a place to turn in your assignments from the book.

* - well, he TRIED to help. He was better at growing facial hair than he was at being a general.
** - look on the back of a two dollar bill. See page 40.


We're the Smart Aleck Staff. We're here to help. Email us.
Or get your principal to have Adam (our boss) come to your school!

Check out "What Our Founding Fathers Would Have Wanted," the Smart Aleck's Guide video that the Texas Textbook committee doesn't want you to see!



How to Make History Come Alive:



Jefferson and Adams (another video Texas doesn't want you to see, having stricken Jefferson from the history books)!










SEE ALL OF THE SMART ALECKS GUIDE VIDEOS!

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