Mission: Make History Not Boring, a guest post by Matthew Landis

History is boring to most kids—totally unfair to history, BTW. But it’s true: students often rank my subject, social studies, as their least favorite.

Which is why, for seventeen years, I’ve had one mission: slay boredom in my classroom. The days of “memorize this list of Civil War battles” are gone. I have personally slain giant summative tests that require the regurgitation of facts. To make history not boring we do history—live and in person.

Example: two weeks ago, I dressed up as a Civil War surgeon (I make excellent fake blood) and ran a live-amputation activity. We jammed sixty kids between all social studies classes into a room, choose a prime target, and I ran a mock surgery. It’s loads of fun, and yes, some years kids get sick (once a kid fainted, but I caught them, not saying I’m a hero, just reporting facts). The nurse is not my biggest fan this day. But the kids LOVE it.

And they never call it boring.

Last week, we took them outside to build soldier tents, march, and play “town ball,” an early version of baseball played by both armies during the Civil War. Students grumbled about the lack of sun and how the dew got their sneakers dirty.

But nobody said it was boring.

My author mission is the same: slay boredom with every page. How is a person supposed to do that when writing a MG adventure series about…history? Same as the classroom—raise the stakes!

NATIONAL ARCHIVE HUNTERS: CAPITOL CHASE is the first book in my new series that carries this ‘make history not boring’ mission to readers. Ten-year-old twins, Ike and Iris Carter, live in our nation’s capital and find themselves thrust into a live history hunt when a thief their own age swipes a miniature George Washington painting. As other Revolutionary-era artifacts go missing, Ike and Iris use the National Archives to dig up and chase down a connection—all while becoming suspects themselves of the FBI’s Art Crime Team. Ike is already a history genius, but even he’s freaked out that the past has come to life; Iris, the athlete of the family, can’t believe history is turning out to not only be not-boring, but life-altering.

Which is my mission: make it matter.

I tell students every year that I don’t need them to love history like I do—that’s my thing. But I want them to see that it’s NOT boring. Also, that it matters. That the pursuit of it, in class or fiction, counts. For Ike and Iris, it might be a matter of life and death.

You’ll have to read the book to find out…

Meet the author

Matt Landis is an eighth-grade social studies teacher (the one you wish you had). His middle grade books The-Not-So-Boring Letters of Private Nobody, It’s the End of the World As I Know It, and Operation Final Notice have won many awards and accolades, including being named an ILA Teacher’s Choice and a Bank Street’s Best Book. He is also the author of the YA novel League of American Traitors. He lives in Pennsylvania with his wife, four kids, 35 chickens, and 3 cats. He hasn’t slept well since 2015.

Links

Website: www.matthew-landis.com

Twitter: @AuthorLandis

TikTok: @authorlandis

Insta: @matthew_landis

About National Archive Hunters 1: Capitol Chase

Twins race to find the thief stealing valuable historical artifacts before their family’s framed for the crimes in this high-octane middle grade action-adventure series starter for fans of City Spies and Alex Rider.

Ten-year-old Ike Carter has committed large chunks of American history to memory. That’s what happens when you’re a genius who loves the past. His twin, Iris, prefers the present (aka reality). She’s an elite athlete, dominating the competition thanks to her wicked-sharp spatial awareness.

During the opening night of a new exhibit at their mom’s boutique museum in Washington, D.C., Ike and Iris inadvertently stumble onto a robbery in progress. A girl not much older than them is stealing a miniature portrait of George Washington from the collection. It’s only the first in a string of crimes, all focused on items that were once gifted by the Marquis de Lafayette to his American friends. With some help from the National Archives Research Center, the twins puzzle out the culprit’s next targets, and are soon hot on the trail of the mystery girl.

But their efforts also put them in the crosshairs of the FBI’s Art Crime team, who suspect their family is involved. If the twins can’t catch the real perp as they target the final item, it’ll be game over.

An action-packed series opener from highly-acclaimed author Matthew Landis, Capitol Chase introduces a new secret agent team sure to engross fans of National Treasure, City Spies, and Alex Rider with plot twists and turns that make this one unputdownable from first page to last.

A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection

ISBN-13: 9781645952213
Publisher: Pixel + Ink
Publication date: 05/14/2024
Age Range: 8 – 12 Years

Filed under: Guest Post