Fradin sandwiches a present-tense, practically hour-by-hour account of the confrontations at Lexington and Concord between an introductory cast list and a closing “whatever happened to them” feature. Day’s sketchy watercolors capture much of the historical detail but all of the melodrama. Scenes include a lone drummer on Lexington Green rapping out a call to arms, determined-looking Patriots (including the slave, Prince Estabrook) taking on lines of faceless redcoats, Jonathan Harrington dying in his doorway before his horrified wife and son, and like iconic incidents between Paul Revere’s nighttime dispatch and a view of the defeated British straggling into Boston. Backed by a closing overview of the Revolution’s course and multi-level reading lists, this makes a rousing introduction to the war’s opening events. Pair it with the equally stirring likes of Stephen Krensky’s Dangerous Crossing: The Revolutionary Voyage of John Quincy Adams (p. 53). (Picture book/nonfiction. 7-9)
