Review: Lies My Teacher Told Me by James W. Loewen and illustrated by Nate Powell

Title: Lies My Teacher Told Me

Author: James W. Loewen and illustrated by Nate Powell

Year published: 2024

Category: Adult nonfiction (graphic novel)

Pages: 272 pages

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Location: (my 2025 Google Reading map): USA

Summary: Since its first publication in the 1990s, Lies My Teacher Told Me has become one of the most important and successful—and beloved—history books of our time. As the late Howard Zinn said, “Every teacher, every student of history, every citizen should read this book.” Having sold well over 2 million copies, the book also won an American Book Award and numerous other commendations and prizes and was even heralded on the front page of the New York Times long after its first publication.

Now, the brilliant and award-winning artist Nate Powell—the first cartoonist ever to win a National Book Award—has adapted Loewen’s classic work into a graphic edition that perfectly captures both Loewen’s text and the irreverent spirit of his work. Eye-popping illustrations bring to life the true history chronicled in Lies My Teacher Told Me, and ample text boxes and callouts ensure nothing is lost in translation. The book is perfect for those making their first foray past the shroud of history textbooks, and it will also be beloved by those who had their worldviews changed by the original.

Review: This is the second book we are considering for our history book group with UCSB, and it has so much to talk about! I'll be interested to see what the other two professors think about it.

Each chapter is a theme with multiple examples from history textbooks and the American way of talking about and presenting our shared history. For example, the first chapter is about Heroes and how we present only a positive image of those who have reached that status. We leave out the truth, the not-so-good, and the full picture, instead glorifying the hero and blaming their victims. The two main examples are Helen Keller (we don't cover her activism an adult, instead showing her as someone who pulled herself up by her bootstraps, so to speak) and Woodrow Wilson (we completely ignore his openly racist language and actions).

The other chapters cover patriotism, Thanksgiving, and the portrayal of Native Americans, how we discuss our government and presidents, and more. The author has examples from 18 of the main high school history textbooks used in the US.

This is a graphic novel, but it is jam-packed with text and information, so it's not a quick read. At times, there was too much detail, but it was all very interesting. Nate Powell's illustrations are excellent (you may have seen his previous work in the March series about John Lewis)

Challenges for which this counts:

• 20 Books of Summer
• Bookish--all about US history textbooks
• Cover Love--a title that makes me laugh (I was a history teacher!)
• Diversity--all types of Americans are represented
• Nonfiction--Myth, Legend, and Folklore (this is probably a stretch, but the whole book covers how we teach history as legend and myth).