BookLook Review "Unlikely Heroes"

“Unlikely Heroes”
I’m just one person. On a mission to get people to read. And finding good books for you, and your gift list. “Unlikely Heroes” by Ron Carter is perfect for you and everyone you know requiring a gift. Graduation or Father’s Day are up next on the gifting calendar and thanks to the Safsten’s persistent nagging, I finally read this really great book and will give it for both occasions. It is a collection of stories about the Revolutionary War which is everyone’s favorite war. My seventeen year old niece and my nearly 80 year old father will both enjoy these tales of “ordinary men and women whose courage won the revolution”.

With chapter headings like “The Petticoat That Saved Paul Revere” and “When six Hundred Stopped Five Thousand” it’s hard to choose a favorite. So I will share a couple of paragraphs from one heroic tale to convince you to read “Unlikely Heroes”. Maybe if the Safsten’s had done this months ago they would have hooked me sooner!

My first selection comes from the remarkable story of Margaret Corbin. This brave woman stood alone at the gun emplacement after her husband and all the other men firing the cannons were killed during an attack on Fort Washington on Manhattan Island. She had studied the men loading and firing the cannon as the enemy approached. Surrounded by the moans of dying men, she reloaded the cannon and fired it again and again until she was struck in her left shoulder by a musket ball. She recovered and painfully reloaded and fired before being struck twice more and knocked unconscious. After her life was saved by British doctors she was released back to the American army to regain her health and return home. “In 1779 the Continental Congress granted her a lifetime military disability pension…She was the first woman in the United States to receive such honors.”

“Unlikely Heroes” would also be great as a read-a-loud on family road trips this year especially if you are visiting any historical sites. Carter’s writing style is perfect for all ages and the length of the stories will keep everyone interested while they are being educated and entertained. It encourages patriotism and reminds the reader that sacrifice and bravery were required by many in the American war for Independence. This inspiring book is worth reading and giving as a gift for graduation, birthdays and especially Father’s Day.