After the Fact: The Surprising Fates of American History's Heroes, Villains, and Supporting Characters

Hurd (Chicago History for Kids) has compiled information on figures from American history that goes beyond the material often found in history books. Hurd's 14 chapters are arranged in rough chronological order and cover several individuals each, concluding with "Loose Ends," a section discussing others who had a lesser role in the stories told in the chapter. While no index is included, the further-reading list at the end of the book helps in this regard as it lists individuals by chapter. Hurd uses approachable language that might even appeal to middle school and high school students, but the lack of citations for the information included makes this title much less useful for academic libraries, and the details of some individuals' lives are available in such standard works as Oxford's American National Biography (ow.ly/cuK5y).