Gr 4-8-Considering the interesting, unusual lives these three larger-than-life heroes led, these biographies are surprisingly bland and uninspiring. Haugen recites events while failing to create a sense of who Hamilton, Allen, and Jones really were, and also fails to adequately summarize their contributions and significance. Her scholarship is suspect, given the number of errors and omissions as well as the large number of notes that are incorrectly cited and/or quoted. The maps are incomplete, and too many illustrations are old-fashioned and irrelevant. For Hamilton, use John Rosenburg's thorough, fascinating Alexander Hamilton (21st Century Bks, 2000); Veda Boyd Jones's Alexander Hamilton (Chelsea House, 1999) is adequate. Elaine Marie and Arthur B. Alphin's I Have Not Yet Begun to Fight (Carolrhoda, 2004) is the clearest and best written for this age level on Jones, but unfortunately ends after the Revolutionary War and uses modern drawings rather than contemporary illustrations. Alison Davis Tibbitts's John Paul Jones (Enslow, 2002) is passable but dull. Acceptable, error-free titles on Ethan Allen are hard to come by.-Ann W. Moore, Schenectady County Public Library, NY Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

This new series, further subtitled Special lives in history that become Signature Lives, is being advertised with the appropriate slogan, "Books designed with the reader in mind." The biographies of Franklin and Hamilton are written like a history of their time. The most significant points of their lives are discussed along with those events from their early lives, a technique that seems to make them more human and more relevant to young readers. There is an extensive use of illustrations, historical images, original source documents, and quotes. The format might be likened to a docudrama. In the Hamilton biography, his childhood and youth in the West Indies, his educational achievements, and eventual move to Boston and New York flow into his service for George Washington and the Continental Army. The narrative continues to show the decisions that Hamilton took that moved him into positions of influence. His contributions to the development of the new government, including the central bank, are covered, and the final chapter leads up to the infamous duel with Aaron Burr. Franklin is profiled in his full range of talents, from scientist to politician, to author, to family man, to international superstar. The storytelling will make readers wonder how such an ordinary person became such an extraordinary character who meant so much to this country. His extensive service in France is a fascinating aspect to this signature life. Both volumes are written with a style that will appeal to a broad range of readers, including the hi/lo market. The books technically meet page requirements often set in assignments and include time lines that profile the subject's life in concert with world events. Extensive appendixes include the subject's "Life at a Glance," additional resources, Web sites, and historic sites related to the subject. Other figures covered in this series are Benedict Arnold, John Hancock, John Paul Jones, Thomas Paine, Ethan Allen, and Samuel Adams. Although thes