MIDDLE GRADE REALISTIC FICTION : The Disaster Days by Rebecca Behrens
 |
ABOUT THE BOOK
Hannah Steele loves
living on Pelling, a tiny island near Seattle. It's a little
disconnected from the outside world, but she's always felt completely
safe there.
Which is why when she's asked one day to babysit after school, she thinks it's no big deal. Zoe and Oscar are her next-door neighbors, and Hannah just took a babysitting class that she's pretty sure makes her an expert. She isn't even worried that she left her inhaler at home.
Then the shaking begins.
The terrifying earthquake only lasts four minutes but it changes everything, damaging the house, knocking out the power, and making cell service nonexistent. Even worse, the ferry and the bridge connecting the kids to help―and their parents―are both blocked. Which means they're stranded and alone... With Hannah in charge, as things go from bad to dangerous.
Which is why when she's asked one day to babysit after school, she thinks it's no big deal. Zoe and Oscar are her next-door neighbors, and Hannah just took a babysitting class that she's pretty sure makes her an expert. She isn't even worried that she left her inhaler at home.
Then the shaking begins.
The terrifying earthquake only lasts four minutes but it changes everything, damaging the house, knocking out the power, and making cell service nonexistent. Even worse, the ferry and the bridge connecting the kids to help―and their parents―are both blocked. Which means they're stranded and alone... With Hannah in charge, as things go from bad to dangerous.
REVIEW
It's interesting that I chose to read this in the middle of a pandemic with natural disasters making things even more difficult. Maybe I just needed a reminder that surviving difficult things is possible despite numerous mistakes being made by people in the process. Behrens tells a compelling tale of survival in the face of tremendous odds.
Hannah has only baby-sat once before, but she doesn't foresee any problems sitting for Zoe and Oscar. They are her neighbors and at 8 and 10, they shouldn't require too much oversight. So after partially cleaning the pet guinea pigs cage, she sits down to send some texts to her best friend. When a 9.0 earthquake strikes the three kids are left alone in a badly damaged house on the edge of an island. Due to some mistakes in judgement all three kids end up with physical issues. Zoe has a cut that gets infected. Oscar breaks his leg badly. And Hannah herself finds her asthma causing trouble. The kids must use the few resources remaining to survive until help arrives, if it arrives. As the days go by and no help comes, Hannah is forced to make the hardest decision of her life: stay and wait for help, or leave and try to find help?
I found myself sympathizing with poor Hannah as she made mistake after mistake. How many thirteen-year-olds know how to survive an enormous natural disaster after all? How many adults would know what to do? The challenges the kids face are compelling and kept me interested in the story. In fact, I was frightened for these kids on several occasions as they wrestled with some real dilemmas, life-threatening ones. For middle grade readers who want an interesting survival tale, I can recommend this one.
Comments
Post a Comment