Kids are Americans Too–Review

The Parent Bloggers Network asked for reviewers who would be able to read Bill O’Reilly’s new book “Kids are Americans too” with an open mind.  I figured I could do that.

And I tried. I really tried.

But man, Bill O’Reilly and I just are not BFFs. We aren’t.

It is not that the book is awful..it is suprisingly a lot less offensive than I thought it would be. But it is just not good.

First, it is a rather short book..not even 150 pages. It is selling for $24.95. That’s a lot for a book marketed to teens. I didn’t even pay that much for the last Harry Potter book and that was what, 700 pages?

And sure, if you are a Bill O’Reilly fan, you might pick up this book with a big picture of O’Reilly and a little Fox News screen…but my girls found nothing appealing about the cover. And yes, don’t judge a book by the cover, but with teens I think it is somewhat important.

O’Reilly starts off the book by saying that “Many American kids are complete morons. So are many American adults.” He goes on to say that his definition of moron is someone who is too lazy to figure out what being an American is all about.

You know, I actually give kids more credit than that. I think teens are a lot more politically aware than we give them credit for. And personally, I wouldn’t read a book that started off by making a blanket assumption about kids, especially when that assumption is that many are morons.

The book seems to be targeted to teens, but it is really dumbed down. This book could easily be read by Bug, but I think she has enough of an understanding how the government works that she would be bored. And while I give O’Reilly credit for trying to make the topic more “teen-friendly,” I don’t think it is necessary to assign cute nicknames to everyone like “The Supremes” and “The Philadelphia guys.”

Like I said before, I just don’t think teens are dumb. They need a book that treats them like intelligent young adults, instead of morons that can only handle political matters in 20 second bursts.

I will give O’Reilly credit, though. He doesn’t shove his views down your throat as much as you would think he would. He certainly isn’t unbiased though, but hey, it’s his book.

If you are a Bill O’Reilly fan, you’d probably like the book. Otherwise, pass on this one.