I was unaware of this book originally being released in the 90’s until after reading this graphic novel version. That being said I had no prior expectations of this book. Having the subject of American history being turned into content that is informative in a digestible manner is no easy feat. Lies My Teacher Told Me tries to do just that. I think this graphic novel would be a cool supplementary format in high school classrooms that would make learning American history interesting. There are many details in school books that are outdated and missing important information that are still used in classrooms today. That being said this book is heavy on text for a graphic novel and to be honest I think it still needs to include more information on each topic. It’s a cool concept but I did find that very important part lacking. It’s not something I would depend on for all my history information but I think it was good as a better peak in what many of us were never taught in school. The illustrations were great and helped in driving the book forward. I think it would have better off in a series with focusing on each decade per book to really get more info in.

Thanks to The New Press and NetGalley for the Arc and opportunity to review it.

I was interested in this book mostly because I had read the original book and wanted to see how it was adapted into a graphic novel format. Overall it was good, although there were sections of pretty lengthy text in somewhat small font. It was moments like this that made me question the effectiveness of the medium for this text. I just wonder how many people who wouldn't have read the original version would pick up (and complete) this adaption. Having read and enjoyed the original, I enjoyed this as well.

As a history teacher I read a lot of "This is what really happened" books. I love them and love including them in my curriculum. But this one is different. It actually goes into the why we have incorrect history and why it is so important to include different histories. Most of the stories included were ones that I have heard before, but this book should be required reading for all history teachers.

4 stars

This work is perfect for students, educators and history buff. Add this title to high school library collections. Parents may also enjoy this title, but I don't see it being enjoyed as widely by the general teen and adult audience outside of a school setting. Great illustrations and content.

I wanted to look at this book before purchasing it for the library—when looking through other reviews, some said that the ratio of text to images was weighted pretty heavily towards text. It does have a lot of text, and I think if they'd given the book a higher page count maybe they could have space things out a bit better. But for its size and the amount of information conveyed, I get the ratio. Overall I like it—the illustrations were well done, and the text is inline with the original so it's pretty much what I expected. Maybe some will read it that wouldn't read the book, with the lower word count, but I'm not completely sure with how much text is included on each page. It should be interesting to see-I did go ahead and decide to give it a shot in our collection. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for letting me check out the advance copy!

5/5 Stars for the intended audience (students, educators, and as supplemental history reading). Personal rating of 4/5 stars.

In a classroom, library, or homeschool setting, Lies My Teacher Told Me would probably be devoured over and over. It has excellent art, thorough topics, and fascinating stories. For me personally, I probably wouldn't reread it outside of an educational setting.

Thanks to the publisher for an advanced review copy!

Nate Powell is an amazing and talented visual storyteller and he has a vision for society and a better world. A wonderful read and smart adaptation.

"American history is longer, larger, more various, more beautiful, and more terrible than anything anyone has ever said about it." This opening quote from James Baldwin sets the tone for the rest of this essential and eye opening book, now in powerful and skilfully drawn graphic adaptation. This edition effectively summarizes the original text, and the graphic format and evocative illustrations add depth and connection to the material, in a way that is accessible and engaging, especially for young adult readers.

The whitewashed narrative of U.S. History which has been traditionally taught to students has prioritized nationalistic pride over factual information; spinning, lionizing, sanitizing, or even outright lying, leaving generations misinformed and unable to connect the past to the present in accurate or meaningful ways, to understand marginalized perspectives, or to apply the lessons of the past to decisions which impact our future.

The author analyses multiple U.S. History textbooks and the ways in which they often fail to accurately present historical truths, and asks essential questions about why this has been, and continues to be, the case. Who decides how history is interpreted - whose perspective matters, whose story matters, and what is emphasized (or even invented) and what is left out? Who benefits from this interpretation, and who is harmed by it? What is the purpose of the text - to encourage critical thought or to support the status quo? History textbooks are often written and taught with an eye to avoid offending school boards, parents, or the public, or making students (specifically white students) "uncomfortable". But History isn't supposed to make us feel good, just as Algebra or Chemistry are not meant to make us feel good, and any History curriculum with a focus on justifying, appeasing, or comforting, does so at the expense of the truth.

Without teaching students the causes that led to events, the different options that were available but not taken, and the ways those actions influenced later events, we deprive them of the tools to understand and contextualize history or to connect it to their present lives. When we teach students that events of history are divorced from each other and occur in isolation, they appear random and illogical instead of connected and consequential. People are entitled to their own opinions, but not to their own facts. Truth is still truth even if it reflects poorly on individuals or groups, or causes cognitive dissonance for those invested in a narrative that absolves their complicity or harm. Presenting a sanitized, heroic Columbus to students is both an easily disprovable lie and a cruel invalidation of the tremendous harm he caused. Promoting the fiction that the U.S. Civil War was about state's rights instead of slavery and white supremacy contradicts what Confederate states clearly (and verifiably) expressed about their objectives and motivations. Pretending that the 9-11 terrorist attacks were rooted in "jealousy of our freedom" completely ignores the contribution of U.S. actions to the circumstances that caused it, or the warnings that were ignored.

The myth of American Exceptionalism, and the view of its domestic and foreign actions through the "Global Good Guy" lens, prevents a full and factual reckoning of U.S. history, comprehension of its impact, or of perceptions of its impact outside of its own white hegemonic narrative. In teaching history this way, we discourage critical thought, we discourage empathy, and we discourage activism and change. But we have the ability, and the responsibility, to do better.

This book is exceptionally well-researched, well-written, informative, and insightful, and an essential companion to standard education materials. This graphic adaptation makes a more accurate and nuanced historical understanding accessible and approachable, especially for students or people who are turned off and disconnected from the way History is usually presented. I will be purchasing a copy of the graphic adaptation as well as the latest edition of the full text version for my family.

I'm thankful to the publisher and to Netgalley for providing me with a free advance reader copy of the book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

As I’ve gotten older, I’ve gotten more and more curious about all the small bits of history that were altered or left out of my learning experience. Bit by bit, I have been trying to fill in the gaps, so when I saw this on NetGalley, I was quick to jump on it. I was glad I did.

With it being in a graphic novel format, I figured there would be a lot of information here, but condensed. I was partly right, there was a lot of information here. Each page is filled with not only illustrations to help sell the point, but information galore. This is something that you need to give your time too. You are going to want to take your time with this one.

There was a lot of information in here that I didn’t know while other bits were something I have learned on my journey to learn more, so were only reinforced here. Throughout the nearly 300 pages, there are a lot of topics covered, each one vastly important. It brings up things I’ve never thought about like why the textbook authors are writing to pacify instead of the truth. How the teaching of history needs to change, etc. It really leads to an eye-opening experience overall.

The illustrations were nice and managed to relate some of the text to more current events, which I think was important (if not a little discouraging as things haven’t changed) to help remind readers of how current events can still relate to the past, which was a nice theme this had throughout the novel.

Absolutely, this is a book I would recommend. At the beginning of some chapters there is a page to take notes or write down questions that you have as you read. I loved this idea and would absolutely take advantage of this so I can dive deeper into some of these topics.

For anyone who wants to learn more about American history, and even if you aren’t but live in the United States, I highly recommend picking this up and taking your time as you read through this.

Lies My Teach Told Me is what I needed when I didn't know I needed it. I'm glad to do the work to learn for myself. Teaching of history should definitely be overhauled. This book would make a great supplement to American school teaching (if only administrators/politicians would care for you to know it). I'd advocate for something like this to be added to maybe mandatory optional summer reading lists. Many parents need to read this too. Knowledge is power; however, many people in the majority don't want the minority to have that power, but that is a whole other lesson. Hence, what this book talks about.

I love it covered a huge variety of topics from colonialism, racism, class structure, sexism, teaching style, who writes text books, politics, private corporations influence on politics and foreign affairs, and the environment. I took more notes reading this book than any other book I have read. I'd suggest people buy this book physically and annotate in it. I will say this book has a strong point of view which leads toward biasness. It also leaves out certain details to show the complete story, which I wouldn't mind knowing. Like how did Republications who were first on the side of minorities, then flip to be against them. Overall, great book that sparks a conversation. I'm glad to have read it.

I received a complimentary copy of this book via Netgalley. Opinions expressed in this review are my own

Once again I love an educational graffic novel.. For myself, I lt helps retain the information.

I did find some pages hard to read (white writing on black), other then that great book.

I enjoyed reading this book in graphic novel form, and I think in a lot of ways it makes the content of this book even more accessible to a young audience.

I had always meant to read the original 'Lies My Teacher Told Me' so when I saw the graphic adaption, I figured I would give it a try. I think it was a good adaptation, and of course, the original intention behind the work is perhaps even more meaningful today. The only hesitation I have is that I would think that the main reason to do a graphic novel adaptation would be to make it more appealing to middle school/high schoolers, but the way the text was still written, I'm not sure that it would be effective. The reading level of this graphic adaptation appears to still be quite high, and it seems like there would still be a lot that would need further explanation. As such, I think this would be better to accompany additional lessons from a teacher, rather than be read independently.

I loved this book. The graphics are well done and the content is so much fun. You are reviewing the bits of history that were missed or just wrong. This book is good for several different age levels.

We would be better off if even half of this book were in our schools’ history textbooks. Lies My Teacher Told Me shows how our history books continue various unfair beliefs or judgments about different cultures. But nationalism will not allow that.

Artist Nate Powell (the first cartoonist to win a National Book Award!) adapts the late James W. Loewen’s work into a graphic novel. I love an excellent graphic novel adaptation, and this one is excellent!

Thank you, NetGalley and The New Press, for this ebook!

Excellent, powerful graphic novel adaptation of nonfiction. Updated edition of Loewen’s examination of high school textbooks for American History. Sadly, many of the issues brought up in 1995 are still happening.
He did contribute to this edition before his death. Powell references current events in his artwork

Lies My Teacher Told Me is a book that has been on my mental "to read" list for years, which is why I am so excited to have received the ARC of the graphic novel from The New Press and NetGalley.

So I read this book through the lens of a regular reader and as a teacher. As a teacher, I found the amount of text on the page to be good for an older audience (i.e. late middle school / high school +), which seems to be the right audience for this book. The book strikes a good balance between text and imagery. The images add to the reader's understanding of the text and do not detract from the words on the page (which I have found with some graphic novels - I’m more interested in the pictures than the words). In fact, in this case, you HAVE to read to understand the image on the page.

I also enjoyed the presentation of these historical lessons using graphics as graphic novels are immensely popular with kids/teens and help to break up the text into "easier to digest" portions. Unfortunately, we lose many kids as readers in these grades because they find books (especially longer books, like textbooks) to be "boring". James Loewen and Nate Powell recognize this and even speak to it during the first few pages of the book. "And it's in history classrooms where students spend MORE time simply reading from their textbooks, answering fifty-five questions at the end of the chapter, and so on."

As a regular reader, I appreciated the subject matter, much of which made me question the history lessons I endured as a child - but I guess we didn't think as much about bias back then, we just accepted what we were presented. I believe it's important for everyone to read books that question the usual interpretation of historical events and this graphic novel has made me want to pick up the original text.

I recommend this book to anyone who loves history, teachers of children in middle school/high school, and any adult looking for an interesting text to read. I am looking forward to adding this graphic novel to my classroom library.

This is the book that needs to be taught in history classes - an exploration of how history is taught in America and who benefits or suffers because of it. From the founding of our country to the 2020s, Loewen explains that history is shaped by politics and capitalism, and that does not create an unbiased curriculum. Using current and past history text books that are used in the US, he goes through and discusses the shortcomings and outright lies perpetuated by these 'histories.'

I remember reading the original book and hoping this adaptation would be more approachable. However, I'm not a fan of graphic novels with lengthy paragraphs. They feel out of place in the format and don't add much beyond the artwork.

For readers hesitant to tackle longer works, I recommend trying the audiobook of the original instead.

While this graphic novel offers some good information, I'd suggest it primarily for those unfamiliar with the original book.

The greatest strength in this is the fact that it is a graphic novel. I've already had both English and history teachers tell me that adaptations are 'less than' full novels or books, are somehow dumbed down or even worse, doesn't count as reading as all. It always perplexes me because barring the fact that that kind of sentiment is exactly what pushes people away from reading, is that we are all (hopefully!) taught as educators to scaffold and take into account various learning styles. This book does that, and is in some ways more powerful than the original book.

For example, I read about lynchings, both in my history textbook and in To Kill a Mockingbird. I knew it was bad and resulted in deaths. It wasn't until I was confronted with actual photographs that it made it crystallize in my mind. Nearly all of us have never seen this horrific act in any sort of real life context or in media. Now we have an image of it in book. It is not hidden by our lack of reference, the abstraction of words or like this book sets out to destroy, completely bypassing the subject. You have an image of a lynched black man, surrounded by happy white folks, eating and laughing, with children present as if this is good afternoon entertainment. No one that looks at that can try and rationalize it away with fancy turns of phrase or trying to hide it. Seeing that image slams home exactly the horrors that black folks faced for centuries, and causing us as the audience to question others that try and say 'slavery wasn't that bad' or that confederate flags are harmless symbols of 'Southern Pride'.

Even as a seasoned teacher, this book had so much in there that I didn't know. Not only that, I recognized a lot of the falsehoods, misinformation and outright lies that was taught to me in high school. I even recognized the history textbook I had! For example, Wilson was made out to be a doddering old guy who loved his 14 points so much that those mean Europeans refused to accept. But the revelation that he was a manipulating white supremist was insane at how deep that misrepresentation went. Columbus was no exception either and it makes my stomach churn realizing that we have a holiday and celebrate as children what essentially amounts to a depraved genocidal child sex trafficker.

Everyone should have this book to reach as many people as possible.