Ben Franklin's Fame

Jacob, Zack, Bo and Abigail are members of the 'top-secret' History Club, founded by their teacher Mr. Caruthers. Their objective is to travel through time preventing the wicked Babs Magee from altering history. In BEN FRANKLIN'S FAME, Franklin has disappeared from their text book. Thus using their 'super-cool, hand-held video game-like time travel computer', the gang sets off back to the many events, (1741-creation of the Franklin Stove, 1750-invention of the lighting rod, 1752-the famous kite experiment, 1776-the signing of the Declaration of Independence), in Franklin's life, attempting to set the course of history straight. It is easy to see why the Blast To The Past series has been awarded LEARNING MAGAZINE'S TEACHER'S CHOICE AWARD. It is simply history made accessible and pleasurable. The concept is engaging, the characters are refreshing given they are flawed and actually bicker while performing Herculean deeds! The Author's Notes were fun and quirky, the historical timeline is a terrific bonus for young reader and parents with slippery minds!

Ben Franklin's Fame was really good because I learned a lot about Ben Franklin. I also liked it because the author was very good at describing Ben's life. I recommend this book to people around the ages of 7-10 years old. I have read every book in the series and find they are an excellent and fun way to learn about history. I can't wait for the next book to be written so I can read it at once! Michelle J (....)

Ben Franklin's Fame is the sixth book in the Blast to the Past series, by Stacia Deutsch and Rhody Cohon. This is an early chapter book with occasional illustrations, perfect for 7 to 10-year-olds who like reading about historical events. The premise is that an elementary school teacher, Mr. C, has created a time machine. "It looks like a hand-held video game with a larger screen and extra buttons. When we put a special cartridge in the back, a glowing green hole opens and we jump through time. Taking the cartridge out brings us home again." (Prologue) Here "us" refers to a group of four third-graders, Abigail, Jacob, Zach, and Bo, who help out Mr. C by going back in time and troubleshooting for him. You see, an evil former assistant of Mr. C's (Babs Magee) is using her own version of the time machine to go back in time. Babs hopes to convince some famous historical figure to give up on his or her own dreams, so that she can take their place, and be famous. The kids have to go back and talk with the figure that she's targeting each week, and try to convince whoever it is not to give up. They call themselves The History Club. In this episode, Babs has her sights set on Ben Franklin. In fact, as the story begins, Ben has already disappeared from the history books, to be replaced by a picture of Babs. The History Club has to go back to several points in time, until they can find the place where Babs influenced Ben Franklin to step off of his own path, so that she could step in. They start out at the signing of the Constitution, and move backwards through other milestones in Franklin's life. Each of the four kids has some special skill that he or she brings to the mission. Zack can relate to Ben Franklin because he, too, has trouble deciding what he wants to do with his life, and wants to keep trying out new things. Jacob needs his computer skills to tweak the time machine, and allow the kids to visit the different time periods and places in Franklin's life. Bo's encyclopedic knowledge about Franklin guides the kids to where they go. And Abigail is the documenter of incidents and follower of clues, who comes up with a critical brainstorm near the end of the book. This book is a lot of fun. It's filled with facts about Ben Franklin's life that I think kids will find interesting, like the fact that he had 16 older brothers and sisters, and once invented a pair of swim fins for his hands. The description of the signing of the Constitution is both reverential and humorous. For example: "We knew our time was ticking away, but not one of us could move. We were frozen to the floor. This was it! The signing of the Declaration of Independence." (Chapter 4) And when Thomas Jefferson is inadvertently knocked to the floor by Zack, Bo steps in. "Bo knew that this was his chance to help his hero. He straightened his backbone, puffed out his chest, and stepped forward, hand outstretched. Thomas Jefferson took Bo's hand and pulled himself off the floor. "

It is a great book and will entertain all ages. I'd recommend it to anybody because it shows different aspects of Benjamin Franklin's life. The writers' imaginations are definitely creative. This book will make readers itch for more!