High Hopes: A Photobiography of John F. Kennedy

Award-winning children's author Deborah Heiligman presents High Hopes: A Photobiography Of John F. Kennedy. This a thoughtful and wonderfully illustrated rendition of President John F. Kennedy's inspirational life and tragic assassination. Black-and-white photographs on every page add a strong presence to the straightforward narration in a text which is easily accessible for young people at an intermediate reading level and up. Highly recommended.

In this compelling biography, award winning author, Deborah Heiligman, captures the spirit of the handsome, charismatic President, Jack Kennedy,who won the hearts of Americans and people around the world. Born to a wealthy Massachusetts family, Jack had been taught at an early age that his mission was to serve others. The hopes of the family really resided in his older brother Joe, but when Joe died, Jack stepped into his shoes, and despite serious medical problems, became the youngest person ever to be elected President. Accompanied by stunning photographs this eloquent biography is the perfect choice for family sharing.

I've been looking for a good book on JFK to share with my sixth grade class and I'm happy to have found it here! The text is very kid friendly and full of compelling stories from JFK's childhood. The author's style is perfectly suited to the layout of pictures and children can come away with not only important facts, but the feeling that they've spent some private time with the Kennedy family. I learned things I never knew and was very moved by some of the quotes and stories. This is just the book I was hoping to find, for the author has taken a leader and an ikon in American history and presented him in a new and fresh way. I especially liked the author's handling of JFK's early, formative years. After all that's been written about this man and his presidency it's amazing to me how inspiring this book was. I found lots of ways to spin off on this material. Anyone wanting to share the life of this very unique president with school age children could do no better than High Hopes.