Sheinkin, Steve. Lincoln’s Grave Robbers.

Sheinkin, Steve.  Lincoln’s Grave Robbers.  Scholastic Press  2013  214p  $16.99  978-0-545-40572-0     elm/ms    Nonfiction  E-BN 

Benjamin Boyd was an expert counterfeiter.  The US government was always after him and his cohorts in crime.  Finally, after many arrests and releases, they had him behind bars.  However, his stay in prison was choking his cohorts’ counterfeit proceeds.  So, when their supplies were running dry, they hatched a plot to spring Benjamin from jail.
    

Big Jim and the Logan County Gang decided to snatch the body of Abraham Lincoln from his grave, hide it, and ransom it for $200,000 from the government.

It was up to Patrick Tyrell, secret service agent, to prevent this occurrence and capture the counterfeiters.  Capturing these men was not an easy feat, as they attempted grave robbing, eluded arrest, and caused Lincoln’s casket to be moved many times.  All in all, Agent Tyrell’s last report noted that the “busting up of the plot to steal Lincoln’s body had cost the U.S. government $393.32.”

The book is a great read for young readers, showing them that criminal activity does not really pay off. It also allows readers to see what life in the 1870’s was like.  Although it is a non-fiction book, it reads like a fiction thriller.
    

The book includes a detailed index, a glossary of phrases, and source notes. This will be useful in research.          

Abraham Lincoln, Grave robbing, Counterfeiting, Secret Service

                                                            --Linda McNeil