  | Flooded : requiem for Johnstown Author: Burg, Ann E. | |
| Price: $23.28 | ||
Summary:
On May 31, 1889, the South Fork Dam built to create a man-made lake for America's wealthiest businessmen collapsed, unleashing twenty million tons of water onto the town of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, below; told in the voices of six children and many others this is the story of the ordinary people of the town, their losses and their survival--and of the bitter aftermath when those for whom the dam was built denied all responsibility and the unnatural disaster which it caused.
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| Accelerated Reader Information: Interest Level: MG Reading Level: 5.40 Points: 3.0 Quiz: 509865 |
Reviews:
Kirkus Reviews (09/01/20)
School Library Journal (10/30/20)
The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (00/10/20)
Full Text Reviews:
School Library Journal - 10/30/2020 GR 4 UP-In 1889, Johnstown, Pennsylvania was a mix of Civil War veterans, immigrants, and coal and steel miners, whose families and children were looking toward the future. Everyone was planning for Decoration Day. Little Gertrude Quinn was thrilled that her older brother had saved her the last flag from their father's store, William James was madly editing his first original poem which he would recite in front of the entire town, while Joe Dixon planned to propose to his sweetheart Maggie. Through the rain, flags waved, songs were sung and the veterans' parade filled the town with both pride and strength, but the rain kept coming. Within a few hours, Johnstown and its residence would never be the same. Stunning, significant and sorrowful, Ann E. Burg's requiem melts history into prose. Brimming with sensory imagery and cadence that breathe life back into the 1889 disaster, this novel in verse serenades readers with multiple, yet personal voices of youth depicting daily life in Johnstown before and after the historic flood. Readers will quickly become connected to real life characters, empathetically curious of their fate. Through significant research and written testimony, Burg provides insight to the aftermath and unearths South Fork Dam's faulty structure and the liability of its prestigious Fishing and Hunting Club. The novel's artistry makes use of faded text to give voice after death to main characters as well as anonymous victims. Budding historians will be intrigued with new perspectives on prominent figures such as Clara Barton, Andrew Carnegie and Henry Clay. VERDICT Highly recommended as a tragically engaging, poetic account of the 1889 disaster, which will leave an impression upon its readers.—Mary-Brook J. Townsend, The McGillis Sch., Salt Lake City - Copyright 2020 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.
