The Day the Earth Caved In

March 15, 2007
In 1962, an underground fire began in a large abandoned mine in Centralia, Pennsylvania. The fire continued to simmer but apparently posed no threat to the townspeople whose homes and recreation areas sat on the ground above the mine shaft. Then in 1981, a 12-year-old boy was sucked through the weakened ground in his backyard into a muddy, steaming cauldron, barely escaping alive. When investigation revealed the full extent of the danger, the town and its residents were launched on a long, frustrating odyssey that drew in federal and state governments, the national media, hordes of attorneys, and large corporations. Quigley, the granddaughter and great-granddaughter of Centralia miners, is a former business reporter for the " Miami Herald." In her engrossing saga, government agencies at both the federal and state levels are shown as irresponsible and craven, and the greed of corporations is sickening. But the townspeople, striving for economic justice while clinging to the hope of saving their threatened community, wear the mantel of nobility.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)