Capture the Flag~ Book Review

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Want a fun adventure book for kids, that also teaches a little about politics and history, too?!  I just read a great book for kids called Capture the Flag, by Kate Messner. 

Summary of the Book: 
Three kids get caught up in an adventure of historic proportions!

Anna, Jose, and Henry are complete strangers with more in common than they realize. Snowed in together at a chaotic Washington D.C. airport, they encounter a mysterious tattooed man, a flamboyant politician, and a rambunctious poodle named for an ancient king. Even stranger, news stations everywhere have announced that the famous flag that inspired “The Star-Spangled Banner” has been stolen! Anna, certain that the culprits must be snowed in too, recruits Henry and Jose to help catch the thieves and bring them to justice. 

But, when accusations start flying, they soon realize there’s more than justice at stake. As the snow starts clearing, Anna, Jose, and Henry find themselves in a race against time (and the weather!) to prevent the loss of an American treasure.


Our Thoughts:
This was such a cute book!  I loved the story line.  The book has a lot of different historical and political themes. There is a presidential election going on and the kids get to meet one of the candidates.  Having just come out of a presidential election, it was fun to have that theme in the book.  I also enjoyed learning a little about the actual “Star Spangled Banner”.  I honestly didn’t know it was still around! On the Scholastic site linked below it shares the author’s experience of her research for this book.  She visited it and studied the site to see if it could possibly be stolen!  Here is a link to learn more about the real exhibit of the flag. The characters in the book were great and really believable.  There is another fun theme of an ancient “secret club”.  But, you’ll just have to read the book to learn more about that.

This was a book that my son and I started reading together, but sometimes, if I like a book a lot, I have to keep on reading on my own.  I get too impatient!  A good book is meant to be devoured, and that’s what I did with this book.   He liked it just as much as I did and read it all in bed one night. 

This book is written for kids ages 8 and up.  The Scholastic site has some teaching resources you can check out to go along with the book. Here is a fabulous discussion guide that can be used, too.

About the Author:
Kate Messner is a middle-school English teacher and the author of several books for young readers, including The Brilliant Fall of Gianna Z., winner of the E.B. White Read Aloud Award for Older Readers; Sugar and Ice; Sea Monster’s First Day; and the Marty McGuire series. Kate lives in Plattsburgh, New York, and loves walking in the woods and traveling with her husband and two children. Visit her online at www.katemessner.com.  She has a sneak Peek of the first 2 chapters on her site!