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Fiery Volcano
From his observation point just five miles from Mount St. Helens, geologist David Johnston said "This is it!" before his radio went dead. Johnston watched the volcano explode. His body was never found. During the violent eruption on May 18, 1980, the volcano released tons of rock and debris along with scorching steam and poisonous gas. Volcanic ash soared miles into the air, before covering roads and towns. Fifty-seven people died during the eruption, and it forever changed the landscape of the mountain. Author Carmen Bredeson examines the causes and effects of the Mount St. Helens eruption and gives firsthand stories from victims and survivors.
* Reviews *
While the events introduced here happened in the recent past and may be fresh on the minds of adults, younger readers will appreciate the complete coverage in these books, originally published at least 10 years ago. The quality of these short titles is good, and the informational texts are written in a way that lend themselves to a cover-to-cover read. Columbine and Oklahoma City also give context to these devastating incidents, describing events before, during, and after the disasters and related actions in the intervening years. Although the pictures and images are stock photos, they are captioned and adequately show the range of devastation and destruction to the affected people and geographic regions. The final chapters and back matter have been updated to aid in the understanding of these events. Columbine does contain an image of the shooters in the cafeteria as well as information about the bombs they made and details of the students and teacher who were killed that day, so it might not be the best choice for some collections., School Library Journal December 2012
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Grades
5-7 IL
Grades
5-9 GRL
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