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Summary

Big Bad Ironclad!

a Civil War Steamship Showdown
ELIZABETH RAMSEY BIRD
Big Bad Ironclad is actually even stronger than its predecessor. By this point Hale has expanded a bit and isn’t restricting himself to mere Revolutionary War stories. We’ve skipped forward to the Civil War, which makes for kooky stories galore. I’m sure I’d heard the story of the Merrimack and the Monitor but never in such glowing terms. Hale rightly seeks out and brings to light the story of William Barker Cushing, a prankster who used his pranking skills to help win the war for the Union, as well as a cussing Swede and other interesting folks involved in the Civil War’s naval battles. Also, by book #2 Hale is giving himself a little more literary leeway. A character with the last name of Fox is presented as a walking talking fuzzy animal, acknowledged as too crazy to be accurate, but giving the book a bit of that old kid-friendly zing.