"The four were whisked away and found themselves in a large labor camp. It was bitter cold, and snow was falling. Camp guards were walking around, brandishing clubs."School is out for the summer, and fifteen-year-old friends Alex, Kali, and Roman decide to visit their community's city hall, where they hear a protest is planned. The three are a little surprised at the intensity of the protesters and their claims about constitutional rights. This prompts the three to learn more about the Constitution. The next morning, they begin their search at the public library. While searching through The four were whisked away and found themselves in a large labor camp. It was bitter cold, and snow was falling. Camp guards were walking around, brandishing clubs."School is out for the summer, and fifteen-year-old friends Alex, Kali, and Roman decide to visit their community's city hall, where they hear a protest is planned. The three are a little surprised at the intensity of the protesters and their claims about constitutional rights. This prompts the three to learn more about the Constitution. The next morning, they begin their search at the public library. While searching through some of the more remote stacks, a book called The Living Constitution falls off a shelf and thumps to the floor. As they begin flipping its pages, a hologram of Ben Franklin materializes before them. He transports them through time to Philadelphia in 1787 as the Constitution is being drafted.Through subsequent library visits, past figures transport the youths to various points in time as they learn about the amendments to the Constitution. Some of these figures include Wyatt Earp, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Frederick Douglass, and lesser-known figures such as Theodore Noyes. Throughout their constitutional adventure, the kids will need to visit one of their schoolteachers and try to avoid and outsmart older bullies. They will also be confronted with their inability to change the past and the injustices they witness, as they are only observers.Gabel's intention is clear in his preface. He states he wants to "engage both adults and younger people while teaching them about the Constitution." He chooses a fictional framework to allow him to use a little adventure and humor while maintaining his educational purpose. The setup does not fit neatly into the framework of historical fiction, but it can be used to help define Gabel's book. Typically, historical fiction, such as Susan Hood's Lifeboat 12 and Kimberly Bradley's The War That Saved My Life, takes the protagonist and places them directly into a specific, and often lesser-known, event from history, usually during a larger moment of historical significance. Both books mentioned place similarly aged children in situations that were a reality of World War II. Through the protagonist's experience, the reader learns more about the historical time, place, and significance of the setting.Gabel also has his protagonists experience history, thereby sharing the importance with the reader. But in an interesting departure from works like those mentioned above, his focus is on a historical and still-relevant document rather than a single moment in time. To cover all the amendments, Gabel's characters journey throughout history rather than focusing on a single, detailed moment. It is more of a survey than a deep dive. Gabel gives each character a single defining characteristic while concentrating on the historical moments they visit.Gabel's book is concise and well-paced with clear sentences and short chapters. This results in an easy read, which is quickly finished. There are times when the dialogue doesn't seem quite right for fifteen-year-olds, and other times when the adventure feels a bit like an episode of The Magic School Bus and not aligned with some of the more mature topics, but as an introduction to the Constitution and its amendments, it is easier to digest than something more academic. For someone seeking a clear and concise overview of the Constitution, this is an engaging place to start.

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