It's
Marvelous Middle Grade Monday
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and #IMWAYR day
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January 4th 2022 by Scholastic Focus
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus
Like this author's The Deadliest Diseases Then and Now, this second installation in the series covers information about hurricanes and the science behind them, illustrating these concepts with information about the Galveston Hurricane of 1900. It differs somewhat from the first book in that it is a deep dive into many facets of the Galveston storm, instead of covering several different storms, although a few others are mentioned briefly. This gives the book a chance to address issues I hvaen't seen mentioned before, such as the disdain with which the Cuban meteorological society and their reports were treated, and how disproportionately affected the Black and impoverished neighborhoods were. I especially liked that the Cuban scientists and the Black citizens in Galveston, were not just depicted as victims, but were given plenty of space so that their accomplishments could be lauded, making their treatment all the more painful. Of course, the big draw for this book is descriptions of how people survived, or didn't survive, the storm. Especially informative was the coverage of how males of all ages were conscripted to help bury or burn the bodies, and of how they stepped up to do this horrific work without complaint. Complete with period photos, weather maps, a timeline, brief biographies of key players and a select bibliography, this is another great nonfiction title to hand to fans of Tarshis' I Survived books. I'm looking forward to the third book in this series, The Deadlist Fires. (May 3, 2022)
Hurricanes have always fascinated me although I never want to be on the receiving end of one. I'll be looking for this book and the future title in the series. Thanks for sharing on MMGM.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a powerful read.
ReplyDeleteWow—I wouldn't have thought there was so much to learn about these hurricanes, but it sounds like this book finds a lot of ways to be informative! The connections to race sound thoughtfully written about, and I appreciate your point how the individuals aren't just treated as victims but as high achievers who then suffered. The conscription to deal with the bodies is especially horrifying but also intriguing—but I would be definitely scarred for life if I had had to do that, so I can only imagine what those men went through. Thank you so much for the great review, Karen!
ReplyDeleteThis book sounds great. I love books that don't treat people as helpless victims, even when terrible things happen to them. Thanks for the review!
ReplyDeleteI Survived have been really popular with me, but I didn't get the first in this series yet. I will have to look it up, thanks!
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a great series. I wasn't aware of these books. I will check them out. Thanks for the review.
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