James Madison Book Award Winner, 2005

Old Hickory: Andrew Jackson and the American People
Author: Albert Marrin
Publisher: Dutton

Old Hickory: Andrew Jackson and the American People is the compelling story of a man whose character and determination changed the course of our history. Born in a log cabin, Jackson became a spirited frontiersman, a judge, and a triumphant general, leading the United States to victory at the Battle of New Orleans. He is a controversial figure, primarily because of his decision to remove the Creek and other Native American tribes to west of the Mississippi River. Removing Native Americans from their homes in the South, Marrin writes, “created untold suffering for Indian tribes.” Jackson also used the power of the presidency to defend the rights of the common man, and he fought to preserve the Union. According to Marrin, “His actions chained the monster of ‘secession’ for nearly three decades.” This book for young readers paints a vivid, thought-provoking portrait of one of America’s most complex figures and the era he came to embody.

Press Release: Lynne Cheney Announces 2005 James Madison Book Award Winner

James Madison Honor Books, 2005

George Washington, Spymaster: How the Americans Outspied the British and Won the Revolutionary War
Author: Thomas B. Allen
Publisher: National Geographic

Middle school students will gain understanding of the Revolutionary War as they learn from this book how George Washington managed intelligence gathering to give the Americans an advantage. After the collapse of his special army volunteer spy operation, General Washington relied on crafty civilians to provide intelligence by a variety of means. With slips of paper sewn in his cloth-covered buttons, a boy delivers important messages; listening at a parlor door, a woman learns of a surprise attack planned by the British; an egg seller relays information at a local tavern; and a woman communicates by the way she hangs laundry on her clothesline. By means of invisible ink, book codes, dead drops, safe houses, and moles, the Patriots created a vast spy network with George Washington in charge. Illustrated with pen-and-ink drawings by Cheryl Harness, George Washington, Spymaster contains clues and codes that will draw young readers into the story it so skillfully tells.

The Voice that Challenged a Nation: Marian Anderson and the Struggle for Equal Rights
Author: Russell Freedman
Publisher: Clarion Books

The Marian Anderson story deserves many retellings, and this rendition does the story memorable credit. A wealth of photographs, as well as materials from Anderson’s autobiography, newspapers and histories, inform The Voice that Challenged a Nation, and give it immediacy and authenticity. Always self-critical and self-correcting, this young woman from Philadelphia perfected her talent until she developed a contralto voice that transcended her time and place: “A voice...heard once in a hundred years,” according to the famous conductor, Arturo Toscanini. Her 1939 Easter Sunday concert at the Lincoln Memorial showed dramatically how wrong it is, particularly in a nation dedicated to equality, to discriminate on the basis of race, but Anderson’s contribution surpassed a single day. As this book shows, she provided a lifetime example of excellence and grace. The Voice that Challenged a Nation provides middle school students an opportunity to be moved and inspired by her story.

Read about the 2004 James Madison Book Award Winner