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Ain't Nothing but a Man: My Quest to Find the Real John Henry by Marc Aronson, Scott Reynolds Nelson
aoosterwyk's review against another edition
5.0
I am so excited by this book. It is not a standard biography, but a model for doing historical research. The author walks the reader through the process of discovering who John Henry really was and how he got his information.
This book is a fabulous introduction for students on how researchers work.
This book is a fabulous introduction for students on how researchers work.
yabetsy's review against another edition
5.0
A great example of both history and the historian's journey. Follow Scott Nelson as he has an "ah ha!" moment tracking down the 'truth' behind a folk song. . . was there really a John Henry, how and why do the fit into history and what can the story of the trackliners tell us?
pattydsf's review against another edition
3.0
“For years I had been following a trail, and it was stone cold. I wanted to know if there was a real John Henry, the man in the song who was so strong he beat a steam drill in a contest, but then laid down his hammer and died.”
This is a short book intended for children who are interested in history. I found it at my son and daughter-in-law’s house and thought I would just glance at the story line. I got hooked and read the whole book. Nelson does a great job of drawing his readers into his search for John Henry and making them want to know how it turns out.
I don’t know a lot of children who know that they want to be historians. However, kids are often given the assignment of reading non-fiction and I think that this might be a good book for that assignment.
This is a short book intended for children who are interested in history. I found it at my son and daughter-in-law’s house and thought I would just glance at the story line. I got hooked and read the whole book. Nelson does a great job of drawing his readers into his search for John Henry and making them want to know how it turns out.
I don’t know a lot of children who know that they want to be historians. However, kids are often given the assignment of reading non-fiction and I think that this might be a good book for that assignment.
shighley's review against another edition
4.0
I really liked the way this nonfiction book read like a story. I can see many classroom applications. It has aspects of mystery, history, music, and more. At times I almost found it too informal. This would be great inspiration for anyone interested in history, and teaches a lesson of persistence. The extra material at the end does an excellent job of modeling resources and validating information.
abigailbat's review against another edition
4.0
Nelson explores the legend of John Henry and researches to find out more about the real man. Although he meets many dead ends, he keeps going and writes about the entire process of researching. Tons of photographs illustrate the text and make the time period come to life. Reading about Nelson's process in researching was really interesting because he had to be really creative to keep going after he met dead ends. Perfect for history buffs and those interested in American legends or African-American history.
panda_incognito's review against another edition
4.0
The true story of John Henry's life and death is desperately sad, as one would expect, but this book provides fascinating insight into this historical mystery. The author shares throughout about his research process, explaining a historian's work at a kid-friendly level, with attention to what kinds of questions historians ask, how they analyze existing sources, and how they can uncover information about little-known, marginalized people and groups. This book gives an interesting glimpse into historical methodology and archival research, and includes historical photographs and pictures of historic railroad-related sites today.
specht21's review against another edition
4.0
An interesting read that is also a great example of the research process and different search strategies. I thoroughly enjoyed exploring the history or John Henry along with the author. I found it particularly interesting that the person who the author believes to be the true John Henry was not the large muscled strong man that tales lead us to believe. Very interesting and should help spark research interest in students.