Rozelle's book starts with the feeling of a novel, giving us a look at the lives of the families, students, and teachers during the day before the explosion. While this technique doesn't always work for me, in this case I found it to be really effective and moving. As the narrative gets closer and closer to the explosion and its aftermath, I found myself having to put the book down to take a break and grab a kleenex. The book goes on to give a more traditional historical view of the disaster and then moves us to present day New London to introduce some of the survivors who have collected material, created a museum with an archival collection, and raised a monument to a tragedy that for years was not spoken of by the people in the town who wanted to forget that day.

[full review here: http://www.spacebeer.blogspot.com/2014/05/my-boys-and-girls-are-in-there-1937-ne... ] ( )

Ron Rozelle has written a remarkable book about the single worst tragedy to ever happen at an American school. The 1937 New London School Explosion took the lives of nearly 300 students and teachers. The grief was so overwhelming that the parents who lost their children buried them, carefully packed the torn, bloody clothes and mementos returned to them and resolved to get on with their lives, never granting interviews or speaking of the disaster until many years later. It was a forgotten story that has now been given a sensitive, eloquent telling by Mr. Rozelle.

In our day when tragedies occur, grief counselors flock to the scene to help survivors cope, but in the 1930's, no such help was available and not even expected.

I highly recommend this book. You will be moved to tears of admiration and empathy for those whose lives were ended so suddenly and unexpectedly. ( )