Theme: disaster

Milon and the Lion

By Book Importer | Published: January 11, 2012

Young slave Milon starts his journey at home in Athens. When he sets sail on a ship bound for Italy his adventures really begin. He narrowly escapes with his life in Pompei as the great volcano Vesuvius erupts and destroys the town; he experiences the colourful life of the metropolis of Alexandria in Egypt, and [...]

Descriptors: Europe, Historical Fiction, Intermediate (ages 9-14), Italy » Other Themes: , , , , , , , , , , » Leave a comment

Trapped: How the World Rescued 33 Miners from 2,000 Feet Below the Chilean Desert

By Book Importer | Published: September 26, 2011

In early August 2010, the unthinkable happened when a mine collapsed in CopiapÓ, Chile, and 33 miners were trapped 2,000 feet below the surface. For sixty-nine days they lived on meager resources and increasingly poor air quality. When they were finally rescued, the world watched with rapt attention and rejoiced in the amazing spirit and [...]

Descriptors: Chile, Intermediate (ages 9-14), Latin America, Nonfiction » Other Themes: , , , , , , » Leave a comment

Sparrow Girl

By Book Importer | Published: October 1, 2009

Ming-Li looked up and tried to imagine the sky silent, empty of birds. It was a terrible thought. Her country’s leader, Chairman Mao had called sparrows the enemy of the farmers–they were eating too much grain, he said. He announced a great “Sparrow War” to banish them from China, but Ming-Li did not want to [...]

Descriptors: China, Historical Fiction, Picture Book, Primary (ages 6-9) » Other Themes: , , , , , , , , , , , » Leave a comment

Feed the Children First: Irish Memories of the Great Hunger

By Yoo Kyung Sung | Published: December 1, 2008

The great Irish potato famine — the Great Hunger — was one of the worst disasters of the nineteenth century. Within seven years of the onset of a fungus that wiped out Ireland’s staple potato crop, more than a quarter of the country’s eight million people had either starved to death, died of disease, or [...]

Descriptors: Ireland, Nonfiction, Young Adult (ages 14-18) » Other Themes: , , , , , , » Leave a comment

The Day the World Exploded: The Earthshaking Catastrophe at Krakatoa

By Yoo Kyung Sung | Published: December 1, 2008

The almighty explosion that destroyed the volcano island of Krakatoa was followed by an immense tsunami that killed more than thirty thousand people. The effects of the waves were felt as far away as France, and bodies were washed up in Zanzibar. Today, one hundred and twenty-five years after the volcano erupted in one of [...]

Descriptors: Indonesia, Intermediate (ages 9-14), Nonfiction » Other Themes: , , , , , » Leave a comment

Night of the Howling Dogs

By Yoo Kyung Sung | Published: December 1, 2008

DYLAN’S SCOUT TROOP goes camping in Halape, a remote spot below the volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii. The only thing wrong with the weekend on a beautiful, peaceful beach is Louie, a tough older boy. Louie and Dylan just can’t get along.That night an earthquake rocks the camp, and then a wave rushes [...]

Descriptors: Hawaii, Intermediate (ages 9-14), Realistic Fiction » Other Themes: , , , , , , , , , » Leave a comment

Wormwood

By Yoo Kyung Sung | Published: December 1, 2008

Panic fills the streets of London on a night in 1756 when the earth suddenly lurches forward and starts spinning out of control. Within moments, eleven days and nights flash through the sky, finally leaving the city in total darkness. Is the end of the world at hand? Agetta Lamian fears so. She’s the young [...]

Descriptors: England (UK), Fantasy, Intermediate (ages 9-14), Young Adult (ages 14-18) » Other Themes: , , , , , , , , , , » Leave a comment