Book: Ariel Bradley, Spy For General Washington by Lynda Durrant and Joe Rossi

Expected Publication Is September 1, 2013 by Vanita Books|Expected Number Of Pages: 32

Series: None

Genre: Children’s Historical Fiction

You can find more about Ariel Bradley on Goodreads

Ariel Bradley, Spy For General Washington is an E-ARC from netgalley.com, which has not influenced my review in any way

Goodreads Summary: Ariel Bradley is Washington’s boy spy who pretends to be a country bumpkin (a “Johnny Raw”). He ‘stumbles’ into General Howe’s camp “looking for the mill” his father has sent him in search of. In reality, he is assessing the strength and numbers of the British and their Hessian (German) allies. After he is sent on his way by the unsuspecting English, he reports this to General Washington and his staff. This information proves key in what became known as the Battle of White Plains.

I don’t normally read children’s books, but Ariel Bradley looked really interesting.

One thing I liked about this book is that Ariel Bradley was a real kid who helped out George Washington by pretending to by a country bumpkin.  I was actually expecting it to be a full-on picture book, for some reason, but it’s actually a chapter book, and I think it would be good for kids who are just starting out on chapter books.

Lynda Durrant did a great job at making Ariel’s story interesting and and fun, and even I want to know more about Ariel Bradley!  I also liked that a glossary and list of important people were included at the end of the book, which is great for kids who may not know what an icehouse or a mill is.

I do wish there were some illustrations throughout the book (and it’s possible there will be some illustrations in the print copy) but that might be because I got Ariel Bradley through netgalley.  If they’re anything like the cover, then I think the illustrations would be great.  And while this book focuses on this one event, I wish we got a little bit more about Ariel’s life.

Final Thoughts:

I liked Ariel Bradley, and I think it would be a great book for kids who like history or for kids who are just starting to read chapter books.  Ariel Bradley, Spy For General Washington gets 3 stars.