Book Review: How They Croaked: The Awful Ends of the Awfully Famous

How They Croaked: The Awful Ends of the Awfully Famous by Georgia Bragg. Illustrated by Kevin O'Malley.

Published by Walker & Company in 2011.
Age level: 10-14; grade level 5 and up.

Summary: How They Croaked is an often humorous (yes, humorous!) take on the deaths of famous people throughout history. Puns are placed in each chapter, and each chapter also contains an  tongue-in-cheek heading, which might seem a bit distasteful for some, but isn't meant to offend. An example would be Marie Curie's, which says, "You glow, girl."  Each chapter describes in depth how each person died, and there is also a factoid sheet at the end of each chapter. The book is illustrated and
around 184 pages, with an index.

The authors are pretty straightforward in the very beginning:

My thoughts: Simply put: I *loved* this book. It might seem ghoulish or morbid to enjoy a book about death as much as I did, but the author has written a book dealing with death that probably will cause the reader to laugh out loud several times-like I did. Death is often a touchy subject with youth, but there will always be a natural curiosity, especially if it is being discussed in school or in a historical context. The "factoids" at the end of each chapter are also meant to make the reader giggle, such as on page 40, when talking about Henry VIII. Bragg writes in a box of the "Things that weigh as much as Henry VIII" when he died, including "244 regulation basketballs," "58,060 U.S. pennies," and lastly, "Jabba the Hutt."

Each chapter is short, at around 7 or 8 pages each. The author carefully uses terms and words that youth of today will recognize and identify with. In the chapter about Cleopatra, the author describes her style as "big, with a lot of bling. If you're a girl it's fun to be her on Halloween, with her black eye makeup and distinctive hairdo" (Bragg 19). Another chapter I found particularly amusing was the one about Charles Dickens. Dickens, who was not known to be an overly pleasant man, often berated his children and gave them nicknames such as "Chickenstalker" or "Flaster Floby." Bragg writes "The kids' nicknames for Dad could be have been Shutyourwordhole or Getoveryourself."

The illustrations match the tone of the book, and the artist, Kevin O'Malley, puts a special "spin" on each portrait.

As well as illustrations and charts, such as this one detailing Henry the VIII's wives:

Of Note: The book has been nominated for numerous awards, including the North Carolina Children's Book Award, the Truman Readers Award, and the Cybilis Award for Non-fiction, which int won. It is also a ALA Notable Children's Book and a Quick Pick Book for Reluctant Young Adult Readers (as picked by YALSA).

Further Resources: I was delighted to find out that the author has another book out, titled How They Choked: Failures, Flops, and Flaws of the Awfully Famous. There is also a brief and interesting interview with NPR conducted with the author and can be found here: here. The author herself has included a "further reading" appendix in the back of the book, for those who wish to continue their morbid history lessons.

In conclusion: For students who are fans of "gross out" humor and facts, this is the book for them.