O’Reilly, Bill. (2012). Lincoln’s last days: The shocking assassination that changed America forever. New York: Henry Holt and Company.

This middle-grade level book begins with the spring of 1865 when President Lincoln travels through Washington D.C. after winning the Civil War. During the celebration, he is dramatically shot at Ford’s Theatre. The story continues with a dramatic recount of the search for the murderer, John Wilkes Booth. The book is also set up almost like diary entries because each chapter has the date, location, and time of the events told within the upcoming chapter. This book is great because it is readable and engaging for both adults and students. The text is understandable for all ages, and the vivid pictures really put readers in the pages of the story. This book should have won the Young Hoosier Books Award because of its dramatic recount of a very important event in American history. The book is set up in a way that creates a page-turner filled with action, suspense, detail, and art equipped for all ages to enjoy and learn.

Book Cover