Part I: Bibliographic information
Type: Nonfiction/Young Adult
Title: The Notorious Benedict Arnold: A True Story of Adventure, Heroism & Treachery
Writer: Steve Sheinkin
Copyright Date: 2010
Publisher: Flashpoint
ISBN: 9781596434868
Genre/subgenre: Young Adult/History/Biography
Interest Age: 13+
Reading Level: Upper Grades (UG 9-12)
Pages: 352
Awards:
Boston Globe-Horn Book Award
School Library Journal, Best Children's Books of 2010
Junior Library Guild Selection
Part I: Reader’s Annotation, Plot Summary, Critical Evaluation
Reader’s Annotation -- The story of revolutionary war figure Benedict Arnold takes us from his rebellious childhood, to his rise as a soldier and officer under General Washington, to his decision to betray the American cause and side with the British. The devil is truly in the details of this epic historical account of one of America’s single most despised citizens.
Plot Summary --
The work starts with the hanging of a man on a makeshift scaffold in a clearing near the woods. He is charged with treason. We jump back to hear the tale of the boyhood of feisty youth known in Norwich, Connecticut, for his pranks. He is born the sixth Benedict Arnold, a son of a Captain and merchant. His family has seen mixed success in America and this continues into the lives of the Arnolds of Norwich. An epidemic of Yellow Fever takes two of his beloved sisters when Benedict is just 12. His father’s business and health decline as his drinking and debts increase. This is a hard blow to the younger Arnold whose misdeeds continue after he’s pulled from boarding school at 13 for lack of money. His mother apprentices him to an apothecary but at 18 Arnold joins the army to fight in the French-Indian war only to desert when his mother falls ill and dies. Later he establishes his own apothecary and trading business in New Haven, Connecticut, for which he travels to London and the West Indies while his sister, who is the last of his family, takes care of the store.
In 1763, the British increase taxes on trade goods and Arnold, a trader, joins the growing tax revolt movement -- and he subsequently begins to import goods illegally. An incident happens in which a sailor reports Arnold for his tax evasion and Arnold beats and threatens the man. He is charged but given a small fine and this makes him into something of a local celebrity. He married a woman named Margaret in 1767 and in five years has three sons. The tax revolt culminates in Boston with the famous Boston Tea Party, and Arnold becomes a member of the New Haven militia in support of the cause of independence. He is elected as the local leader of this patriot movement. When war is declared in April 1775, Arnold forms a militia that demands weapons and gunpowder from the town leaders to go fight the Red Coats.
They join 10,000 militiamen outside of Boston but they are poorly organized. A few dozen British soldiers are guiding a fort nearby and Ticonderoga where he learns of more than 50 cannons. Arnold is declared a colonel and goes on the mission single-handedly recruiting soldiers along the way. Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys are headed there as well but the two join together to attack and capture the fort at Ticonderoga. The boys begin to pillage, and Arnold orders a halt to the poor behavior. No one is really in charge of the Continental Congress yet and Arnold continues his mission of independence at Lake Champlain, a British stronghold. With Allen and his troops, Arnold crosses the border into Canada and takes a British war vessel. But Ethan Allen is the better at promoting himself and he makes Arnold look almost secondary to the successes. Shortly thereafter he’s asked by leaders from Massachusetts to turn over his command. This he takes as a bitter insult (the first of many from the politicians in Philadelphia) but he has to hurry home as his wife had suddenly fallen ill -- and she subsequently passes away.
John Andre, an important character in Arnold’s act of treason that would later follow, is introduced at this point in the story -- he is a 25 year old British officer who is sent to hold St. John’s Fort. The two men’s fates would cross in an extraordinary way later in the story. About this time Arnold is forced to bedrest due to an attack of gout. His sister Hannah holds the household together. As he heals, he plans an invasion of Canada and, in July, he heads to Cambridge to discuss the matter with the recently appointed George Washington. Arnold suggest that he take an Army of men through the woods to take Quebec while the larger force of Americans heads for Montreal via a more traditional route. Washington approves the plan and Arnold leads 1,000 men for the mission into the rugged Canadian backcountry -- a fateful mission that is difficult but ultimately proves Arnold ability to lead and his courage on the battlefield.
British Major John Andre is forced to surrender to American forces at Fort St. John’s, and he becomes a P.O.W. held in Pennsylvania though is later freed in a prisoner swap. Arnold is inspired to lead the attack on Quebec and with just a handful of men in canoes he heads toward Quebec where two British warships are guarding the walled city that he aimed to conquer. The British Commander is approach with a note demanding surrender and a fight ensues with the Americans were badly outnumbered. In November, they march away from Quebec in a poor state and not having conquered. The consolation was that the strategy has split the British and allowed Arnold counterpart Montgomery to march in to Montreal virtually uncontested.
Montgomery joins Arnold and with a newly supplied and combined force to attack Quebec. They chose to charge the walled city of Quebec on a snowy night on Dec. 31, 1775. Montgomery is killed and Arnold is wounded by a shot that shatters his leg. Daniel Morgan leads the remaining troops but most of the Americans are eventually killed or taken as prisoners of war by the British. Along with a handful of men, Arnold keeps up a blockade through the winter and word of their bravery and Washington promotes him to general. By late February, he realizes they will not take Canada on that campaign but the battles continue into the following year and Arnold plays a critical role throughout.
The subsequent battles culminating in Saratoga are significant it that Arnold returns to play an essential front-line role in the American Revolution. However, his courageous efforts that are key to the American cause are not rewarded by the newly emerging Congressional body. In part, they see him in particular as a threat to the fledgling democracy. Arnold, a proud man who has sacrificed much for his country, takes the oversights personally. At some point, his loyalties begin to unravel. His health is poor, his finances a wreck and his new wife is not inclined to live in poverty. In collusion with British Major John Andre, Arnold forms a pact with the British to surrender Fort West Point, which is under Arnold’s commands.
However, their plan is discovered when a bundle of paper are found with Andre and soon these are presented to Washington. Andre confesses to the plot -- and is hung. Arnold in the meantime flees to New York and was later joined by his wife who pleads innocent though later it is revealed she was aware if not supportive of the plot. Nevertheless, the Arnolds are not very welcome by the British in New York either nor later in London where they expatriate to. Arnold writes to Washington and claimed his actions were for love of his country but evidence is unclear as to his real movies -- was it insult to injury, financial ruin or his desire to see the war reach an end? Meantime, Arnold would wear the red-coat uniform and detailed a strategy for the British troop to overcome the Americans, one that obviously did not work!
Critical Evaluation -- The tales that Sheinkin tells of the iconic Benedict Arnold gives the reader a multidimensional view of this complex man. On the one hand, we see the brutish young Arnold who is quick to be offended and then to challenge to another man to a dual. He also acts according to his own conscience on many occasions -- turning to smuggling when the British impose taxes. He becomes spirited American revolter who takes a stand early on against the British and is determined work to coming war to his advantage in order to prove himself on the battleground, a feat that he achieves and then some. Without Arnold, the Americans may well have lost the war to the British as Sheinkin points out. It’s a fascinating tale that is a great example of narrative nonfiction in action -- and the action is certain to captivate some young readers.
Structurally, Sheinkin uses short chapters to keep the pace rapid and carefully introduces a cast of characters whose retelling of the story provide a variety of perspective, ranging from the ground soldier to the then American Commander George Washington. The suspense builds as we wonder how this dedicated man who has risked his life for the American cause on many occassion ends up betraying his countrymen. Sheinkin tries to help us understand by paint Arnold as a man prone to take offense -- and who was given less credit than he deserved by those who were less inclined to win their reputations in battle. Arnold is also not afraid to seek retribution and wallops no small number of men in his time. This theme perhaps explains his ultimate decision. However, Sheinkin lets our imagination wonder given the tale that brings him to his fateful decision to conspire with an enemy he so passionately found to defeat.
Part III: Author Info
A brief bio from teen reads has this to say: “Steve Sheinkin is the award-winning author of several fascinating books on American history, most recently The Notorious Benedict Arnold, which won the YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults, the Boston Globe/Horn Book Award for nonfiction, and received three starred reviews. He lives in Saratoga Springs, NY” (Biography, 2013). He adds on his website that as a kid his favorite reads were “sea stories, searches for buried treasures, sharks eating people, that kind of thing” (Sheinkin, 2012).
Part IV: Curriculum Ties, Diversity, Booktalk Ideas, Challenge Issues
Curriculum Ties, if any -- Historical accounts of the revolutionary period targeted to young people are frequently very dull and textbook. This war story involves adversity, intrigue and espionage -- certainly it has a place in history classrooms to enliven the topic of the American Revolution.
Diversity of Cultures -- There is some history of the involvement of the Mohawks and other tribes in the fighting on the British side as mercenaries more or less.
Booktalking Ideas -- This story focuses on Arnold’s sacrifice and valor on the battlefield for the American side. Then he defects to the British side for unclear reasons. Was it personal gain, anger at being overlooked for high-level appointment or simply a desire to end the war, which was the cause for much suffering?
Challenge Issues -- There is not much to contest here in terms of content. One might argue that the story reads like a novel and question how much creative license Sheinkin uses in order for it to read thus. He documents most of his quotes within the work but as you read you wonder how anyone could reconstruct such a tale. No doubt there are some differing interpretations of the story of Arnold that did not make the book.
Part V: Reasons chosen
This works has the qualities that are reminiscent of Steven Ambrose’s historical accounts of significant American events. We see a battle from both sides through they eyes of the opposing military leaders and other witnesses. These are weaved together through painstaking research on the part of the author. Sheinkin focuses on the aspects of the story for which the historical records are prevalent but he also strives to detail the little known aspects of Benedict Arnold’s fascinating life such as his relations with Andre. The narrative approach to nonfiction -- sometimes called creative nonfiction -- makes historical account read with much greater interest level than the textbook version. Young adult readers will likely find the intrigue and personal history presented makes the plodding through several years of events in just 350 page time well spent. Sheinkin has mastered this technique through his numerous efforts exploring early American History. The Notorious Benedict Arnold is a major success and one that every American history student should consider reading.
Part VI: Citations
Biography: Steve Sheinkin. (2013). Teenreads [website]. Retrieved from http://www.teenreads.com/authors/steve-sheinkin-1
Sheinkin, S. (2013). Steve’s bio [webpage]. Retrieved from http://www.stevesheinkin.com/About.html
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