Reddit reviews Cartoon History of the United States (Cartoon History of the Modern World) (Cartoon Guide Series)

Follow it up with Cartoon History of the United States

i gave this book

http://www.amazon.com/Cartoon-History-United-States-Modern/dp/0062730983

to my chinese cousin in zhong 3.

she thought it was hilarious. I own all of larry gonicks cartoon histories and science books, theyre amazing

First off, I would recommend putting down A People's History and not reading another word of it. Zinn has a very... iffy... reputation as an historian, and while he is at least wearing his biases on his sleeve, it really is a terrible place to start. It is the kind of book that can give a very interesting perspective on events, but makes for a very unhealthy starting point. /r/AskHistorians has no shortage of threads asking about him, and you'll see the answer is always the same.

Now my suggestion may seem like a silly one, but I'm dead serious. Larry Gonick's Cartoon History of the Universe series is really a great, great series of history books which I can't recommend highly enough. To more specifically address your needs, he did a book specifically on American History. He has his biases too - any historian will - but it isn't the politicized schlock that Zinn pitches. And if reading history in comic book form can't make it interesting, I'm not sure what will.

Gonick also has a History of The U.S., by the way.

Van Lente and Dunlavey's Action Philosophers is also a candidate if you're into the history of philosophy. In fact, while I'm at it, let me recommend the "For beginners" series about different philosophers and philosophic traditions. Examples: Marx, Freud, Existensialism etc. For a preview of the series, check out Philosophy for beginners at Google Books.

Edit: They even have reddit favourite Noam Chomsky for beginners!

I recommend this book to everyone, regardless of age - It's Super clever and reads well for all ages.

Cartoon History of the United States (Cartoon Guide Series) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0062730983/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_a-cYAbVMPS1BD