James L. Swanson
2013
One sunny November afternoon the President of the United
States was traveling on a campaign visit to Dallas, Texas. President Kennedy, his wife Jackie, and
the governor of Texas and his wife were traveling in a convertible limousine
when three shots rang out.
Governor Connnally was seriously injured; President Kennedy was dead, parts
of his brain splattered across the limousine and on his wife.
Who would do such a thing? Lee Harvey Oswald was a pretty much a loser. He had failed at everything he’d ever
tried to do. There’s no evidence
that he spent a long time planning the assassination; instead, it was pretty
much a crime of opportunity. “The
President Has Been Shot!” reviews the entire, terrible weekend – a weekend
that changed the country.
A finalist for the YALSA nonfiction award this past year, “The President Has Been Shot!” is a
thorough account of the assassination.
The book was divided into two parts – part one was an introduction to
Kennedy and part two was the assassination. Although I understand Swanson’s need to inform young adults
about Kennedy’s life and the early years of his presidency, I found this
section to be a bit choppy and I’m afraid it might turn off some readers. Once part two began, I was riveted to
the story and I think most of my
students will be too.
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