Educational Archives - Brooke's Reviews and Sweeps

Rivals! Frenemies Who Changed the World cover

Over the summer, my boy and I listened to Rivals! Frenemies Who Changed the World by Scott McCormick. This Audible Original contains four entertaining stories about rivals whose feuds changed the way we live in the world today. All four stories were different, and it’s likely that you’ll learn something from this book.

The four stories in this book were as follows:

Cope vs. Marsh – these two rivals tried to become the most celebrated paleontologists in the land. They weren’t afraid to play dirty either. In their rush to be the best, some of their discoveries introduced confusion into the scientific world. But they did discover dinosaurs.
Queen Elizabeth vs. Mary Queen of Scots – their rivalry determined the fate of England. If Mary Queen of Scots (who sounded like a Valley Girl in this audiobook) had one, the country would have become Catholic, and history would have changed.
Adidas vs. Puma – This shoe rivalry split a town and created the sports industry we know of today. In this book we find out why Adidas has a three-stripe logo, how it got its name, and other interesting tidbits that you never knew you wanted to know about the shoe industry.
Hamilton vs. Burr – You may know that Alexander Hamilton was killed in a duel with Aaron Burr. In this story, you’ll learn all you wanted to know about duels (probably), some interesting political facts, and that Burr probably wasn’t the bad guy we think he is.

Rivals! Frenemies Who Changed the World was entertaining and well-acted. There were sound effects that added to the drama and comedy. This book might not be too exciting for younger kids, but it is entertaining for upper Middle Grade/Lower YA listeners. Even though its intended audience is younger, there’s enough interesting facts to make this entertaining for adults too.

If you’re an Audible member, I wouldn’t waste a credit on this book, unless you get an amazingly sweet deal on credits. The book is less than $5 (at least for Audible members). This is a book I’d recommend for listening to in the car with your kids.

The Invisible War: A Tale on Two Scales is a graphic novel that tells two stories at the same time. First, it tells the story of a nurse who is helping the cause during World War I. Second, it tells the story of dangerous dysentery microbes as they try to make their colony thrive. It is a short, interesting story that would be good for both homeschooling families and interested teens/adults. I was fortunate in receiving a free copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

On the macro scale, we read the tale of a World War I nurse who contracts dysentery from one of her patients. We see her interacting with patients, talking to her friends, and going about her daily life in the war. By no means will you be an expert on World War I by reading this graphic novel, but you might get a better idea of what these heroes faced. Our heroine was an Australian nurse, so it’s interesting to see the war from a non-US perspective.

On the micro scale, we see the battle that dysentery microbes fight inside the gut of our heroine against her helpful cells that are trying to destroy them. We see them try to find a suitable place to colonize and thrive, and then, as our heroine’s immune system kicks in, we see the bacteriophage in her gut fight back. Again, reading The Invisible War won’t make you an expert on microbiology, but it’s a fun peek inside our immune systems to let us see what we deal with every day.

This graphic novel is cute, fast-paced, and informative. As a homeschooling mom, I plan on making my kids read this book myself. I would recommend this for kids (and even interested adults) in junior high or above.

In addition to the cute comic that this book has, the back of the book has more information about the subjects in the book. It is supposed to be interactive, but I had difficulty getting the interactive parts of this book to work, so I just read the comic and then read the extra information at the end. I was able to learn more about viruses and what it was like to be in World War I by reading this supplemental information.

If viruses and World War I is something you find interesting and you want a more detailed account, I would recommend The Great Influenza by John M. Barry, which details the Spanish flu that killed 50 million people during World War I. If you just want a quick read that presents this subject in a fun way, then I recommend this book.

There is a new version of this book coming out on January 1st that is currently available for pre-order. While the book that I read was the older edition, the newer version is less expensive.