This is the book I always wanted to write but lack the talent. I am glad [Brenda Z. Guiberson] wrote it so I can share it with my students. I have a fascination with disasters and have since I was young. Unfortunately most of the books about them is not written for a middle school reader. I have had some of the books [Guiberson] used to research on my class shelves for years with few takers. This is just the type of book needed to get them reading non fiction and enjoy it. ( )

Recommended Ages: Gr. 5-12

Plot Summary:
Smallpox - early 1600s, killed millions of Native Americans and people around the world, discussed vaccines
Great Chicago Fire - 1871, history of settlement into Chicago, built city on "stilts" because of the swampland which fed the fire, wasn't necessarily Mrs. O'Leary's cow
Johnstown Flood - 1889, didn't take care of damn that created lake where rich people vacationed, Andrew Carnegie member of club
San Francisco Earthquake - 1906, settlement of San Fran because of gold, built over filled-in lakes, people lived in temporary homes, government pretended earthquake didn't happen to attract people back to San Fran
Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire - 1911, working conditions, why women and children worked, uprising and unions, modern day sweatshops
Titanic - 1912, enormous size, cost to travel, contact with the iceberg, boarding the lifeboats, rescue, socioeconomic status, shipwreck found
Pandemic Flu - 1918, spread quickly, affected war, connection to birds and pigs, modern flus, future flus
Dust Bowl - 1930s, humans caused erosion of earth and removal of trees which caused the ground to turn to dust during drought, Great Depression
Tsunami - 2004, what causes a tsunami, some kids knew what was happening and told family to escape, animals and aboriginals knew to get to higher ground, contaminated water, rebuilding with trees, warning system, tsunamis in folklore
Hurricane Katrina - 2005, storm not that bad and people didn't believe warnings because worse hurricanes had landed, ecosystem changed and caused water surge, government reaction slow, aftermath even a year later

Setting: varies by chapter

Characters: doesn't focus on specific people

Recurring Themes: disasters, social issues, death, disease, survival, health, contaminated water, socioeconomic status, rebuilding, ecosystems

Controversial Issues:
pg 11 "Cotton Mather, you dog. Damn you! I'll inoculate you with this, with a pox to you!"

Personal Thoughts: Dense informational text covering more than the details of the disaster. Very interesting, especially the social issues brought up in every chapter. Photographs taken from the time period, when available, are provided. Not necessarily for elementary because of the complicated text and issues.

Genre: Informational text, non-fiction

Pacing: Medium if you're a good reader
Characters:
Frame:
Storyline:

Activity: ( )