OK y'all...I need some advice.

We have homeschooled from the beginning, and it has been brought to my attention (thankyousomuchdearhusband lol) that my son, 8th grade, is woefully lacking in US history.  Doesn't bother ME lol, since I don't have much recall about that stuff when I 'learned' it in school (and I use the term 'learn' very loosely; it was more like 'memorize this until the test is done') but we've had a couple of occasions lately that really perked up dear old dad's ears.  Example:  someone commented on a solemn faced baby, said he had his Richard Nixon face on; later discussion made my son ask 'who's that?' LOL. 

SO...we are in need of suggestions for US history books.  We've used Abeka in the past and well, frankly I wonder if that isn't part of our problem.  Not that Abeka isn't a good curriculum, but it's just so uninteresting to him.  I'll be the first to admit that I'm not a history buff and that a lot of it seems to be simply reading, which my sons hates.  Has anyone used anything that you'd recommend for our situation?  Money is definitely an issue, since I've pretty well spent my book allowance for this year, but we gotta have something.

Thanks for the help, y'all.  I appreciate any and all advice!