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analyticalchaos's review against another edition
2.0
The information in this book is great, I just found that it repeated a lot of concepts from the first book. I love this series, but this book dragged along due to its repetitive nature.
mootastic's review against another edition
4.0
A good primer on how the Constitution can interfere with modern governance.
Each section starts with a real world example of a problem caused or exasperated by the Constitution, a flashback to what problems our founding fathers intended to address when writing that part, and then ways we have dealt with those problems throughout the history of our country.
I don't think the graphic novel format really helps with the facts presented here, it's still pretty dense and wordy, but worth reading, especially for target audience.
Each section starts with a real world example of a problem caused or exasperated by the Constitution, a flashback to what problems our founding fathers intended to address when writing that part, and then ways we have dealt with those problems throughout the history of our country.
I don't think the graphic novel format really helps with the facts presented here, it's still pretty dense and wordy, but worth reading, especially for target audience.
miblette's review against another edition
Interesting, but not compelled to finish for now.
dylaurora's review against another edition
5.0
An excellent introduction to the realities of how the US government came to be. Instead of listing bland facts while omitting truths as most history books do, Fault Lines instead provides information in an easily digestible manner, and appropriate for a wide range of ages. I'd definitely recommend this to be read in classrooms as it is infinitely more engaging than a textbook.
bremaura's review against another edition
3.0
This graphic novel makes the constitution accessible to more people than the document itself. Being able to apply a centuries-old document to positives and negatives in our present-day is a great way to maintain it's relevance. I plan on sharing this graphic novel with my kids which is sure to spark some interesting conversations.
There is a very distinct partisan lean to the content. Part VIII of the book entitled Keeping Pace With the Times is purely opinion and conjecture. If the aim of this work is to be an accessible and honest history it is no better than the whitewashed history I was given as a teenager.
The graphics are distinctly lacking in representation. People are either white or light blue. Slaves are light blue with no shirts on, Indigenous people are light blue with feathers and buckskin, Asians are apparently white with white hair (see the CA internment camp discussion) or white with black hair.
There is a very distinct partisan lean to the content. Part VIII of the book entitled Keeping Pace With the Times is purely opinion and conjecture. If the aim of this work is to be an accessible and honest history it is no better than the whitewashed history I was given as a teenager.
The graphics are distinctly lacking in representation. People are either white or light blue. Slaves are light blue with no shirts on, Indigenous people are light blue with feathers and buckskin, Asians are apparently white with white hair (see the CA internment camp discussion) or white with black hair.
karibaumann's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this ! It is based on the book by the same name but it highlights issues from the present and what the Founders were thinking when they wrote the constitution. It covers things like gerrymandering, the electoral college, and even pandemics! It was written before this pandemic but it has some very pertinent passages. I think it falls a bit short in dealing with our current president. The humorous tone of the book makes more sense when you understand the history. In 15 years when kids read this book will they understand that Donald Trump was seriously claiming that he’d done nothing wrong? Overall I think the book works very well! Give it to kids who got into American History after Hamilton. I always cite the 9/11 report in graphic novel form as an excellent way to explain history and I think this is another great example.
archaeolibraryologist's review against another edition
4.0
Good illustration of some of the more complex topics regarding our constitution, why they were written that way, how they affect us now, and how we might look to changing them in the future.
wrongvswrite's review against another edition
4.0
I used to be more convinced that we should highly regarded the "original intent" of the Constitution of the United States. Not only does this book remind that the Constitution didn't fall from heaven, but it shows that this human-written document was the product of compromises of compromises of compromises. There were gaps and the framers missed some things.
noveladdiction's review against another edition
4.0
A VERY good read. This clearly described and elaborated on the holes in the Constitution - and how those can be exploited or lead us to ruin if not handled carefully. Definitely recommended.