Mississippi Secrets by Dr. Gary D. and Ruth A. McDowell

This is one of those books that from the outset, I'm "rootin'" for. It was an extremely quick read (it took me all of one afternoon and evening).

However, I do have to point out some issues with it. The book obviously did not have an editor (yes, I do have a tendency to read with an eagle's eye). I found several typos and there were no footnotes anywhere. The bibliography was downright laughable (though it pains me to say it)--nearly half the entries were from Wikipedia and they were in no type of professional format that I could tell.

It also seemed to me that the book was written for a younger audience, maybe teenagers. This makes sense because one of the authors taught junior high (I believe). However, this was not stated anywhere as the intended audience. I found several instances were, as an adult reader, I felt I was being condescended to. (Of course, this could have also been the authors' attempt to be "cute"--whatever, it didn't work for me--but I read on.)

So where does this leave me? Yes, I will undoubtedly add this book to my local history section of my personal library. However, I'll be wary about using it for anything academic because I simply can't vouch for it as a source.

Fun read? Overall, yes.
Educational resource? Um, no.