Katonah and Lewisboro librarians offer revolutionary reading picks

What better way to celebrate America’s 250th birthday than by taking a deep dive into books that explore the nation’s founding ideals, broad perspectives, and the experiences of the everyday—and extraordinary—people who helped shape the country?

Halston Media reached out to librarians and asked for their literary picks in several genres: nonfiction, fiction, and children’s/young adult literature.

They enthusiastically responded with a fusillade of titles diverse enough to satisfy every reader, from the merely curious to the diehard history buff.

(The Westchester Library System’s 38 local branches have been featuring Rev250 book clubs, events, and reading challenges, including the recent One County, One Read program, which selected the acclaimed biography The Revolutionary: Samuel Adams by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Stacy Schiff. The book profiles Samuel Adams and shows how his strategic activism—from the Boston Massacre to the Boston Tea Party—transformed him from a colonial Massachusetts politician into a moral and political force who mobilized the colonies and helped shape the American Revolution.)

KATONAH

Claudia Uccellani, reference librarian at the Katonah Free Library, offered a list of adult nonfiction reads:

The Great Contradiction: The Tragic Side of the American Founding by Joseph Ellis; In the Hurricane's Eye: The Genius of George Washington and the Victory at Yorktown by Nathaniel Philbrick; The British Are Coming by Rick Atkinson, the first volume of a planned trilogy; and The Radicalism of the American Revolution by Gordon S. Wood.

For children, the library recommends I Survived the American Revolution, 1776 by Lauren Tarshis; John, Paul, George & Ben by Lane Smith; Lafayette! A Revolutionary War Tale by Nathan Hale; and Revolutionary War on Wednesday by Mary Pope Osborne.

For teens and young adults, recommended titles include the Seeds of America series (Chains, Forge, and Ashes) by Laurie Halse Anderson; Rebellion, 1776 by Laurie Halse Anderson; The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing by M.T. Anderson; and Benedict Arnold by Steve Sheinkin.

LEWISBORO

Colleen Oakes, teen and adult reference librarian at the Lewisboro Library, noted that the library has hosted events such as Rev250 movie screenings and historical craft programs.

Her nonfiction recommendations include 1776 by David McCullough; Founding Mothers and Ladies of Liberty by Cokie Roberts; African Founders by David Hackett Fischer; The First Conspiracy by Brad Meltzer; and Benjamin Franklin: An American Life by Walter Isaacson.

For historical fiction, she recommends My Dear Hamilton by Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie; The Traitor’s Wife by Allison Pataki; America’s First Daughter by Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie; Tell the Bees That I Am Gone by Diana Gabaldon; and The Hamilton Affair by Elizabeth Cobbs.

Good children’s reads include Saving the Liberty Bell by Megan McDonald; Red, White and Blue, I Love You! by Jeff Burton; History Smashers: The American Revolution by Kate Messner; Guts & Glory: The American Revolution by Ben Thompson; Washington, Adams, and Jefferson by C.A. Worman; Rebellion, 1776 by Laurie Halse Anderson; The History of the American Revolution by Emma Bernay; and A Is for Abigail by Lynne Cheney.

Recommended young adult titles include Black History Is Your History by Taylor Cassidy; My Brother Sam Is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier; America Redux by Ariel Aberg; and The Fighting Ground by Avi.