I am really glad I read this book of short stories about my favorite state, New Jersey. I learned several surprising incidents that were overlooked during my fourth-grade social studies class. Although the writing is a bit academic, it is still easy to read and enjoyable for the most part. My favorite part is when he tied two men from Jersey with the founding of California.

So why only 3 stars (and I am feeling generous with that rating)? First, when describing Jerseymen and women, their is so much praise given out like candy that the people come off as saintly and not real. At the opposite spectrum, there were more than a few instances of calling Africans "savages" and ignorant in their dealings with white American people. Commence eye-rolling. Also, while the technical aspects of the writing was on point, there was a formatting issue with references made within parenthesis.

This seemed to be a possible work for an academic degree, such as Masters' or PhD, because the subject matter was so specific, very few people would read the book. It was a freebie in the NOOK store and I am glad I downloaded and read more about my state.

Everyone knows about the tea party Boston threw in the lead up to the American Revolution, but did you know that after the tea party but before the revolution kicked off New Jersey had a tea bonfire? A little town known as Greenwhich did not take too kindly to tea shippers using their town as a work around to the problems of unloading and selling their tea in Philadelphia. So they took the tea out of storage and lit up the sky, breathing in the delicious scent of tea. #themoreyouknow