The Finest Hours (Young Readers Edition)

December 1, 2013
Readers who appreciate a gripping survival tale will be spellbound by this fast-paced, action-packed account of a real-life disaster involving two tankers wrecked in a ferocious North Atlantic storm and the crews' hair-raising, valiant rescue by the Coast Guard. On Feb. 18, 1952, a savage nor'easter slammed 70-foot waves into the oil tankers Pendleton and Fort Mercer off the coast of Cape Cod, and both split in half, leaving their crews to the mercy of the raging storm. Only the Fort Mercer was able to send a distress call. The Coast Guard sent ships to aid the men, including three small crews in lifeboats. During the rescue of the Fort Mercer, the wreck of the Pendleton was discovered. The Coast Guardsmen valiantly rushed to save the men on four floating hulks, the stern and bow sections of each of the tankers. Using the tools of the novelist, the authors provide a vivid, moment-by-moment retelling, jumping from the Pendleton to the Fort Mercer to the Coast Guard in quick succession, drawing on the accounts of survivors and witnesses. Unfortunately, this quick pace sometimes makes it difficult to keep track of the characters as the narrative bounces back and forth between the two rescue efforts. A thrilling, harrowing account of disaster and heroism. (bibliography) (Nonfiction. 9-14)

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March 1, 2014

Gr 6 Up-This "young readers" adaptation of The Finest Hours: The True Story of the U.S. Coast Guard's Most Daring Sea Rescue (Scribner, 2009) tells the story of the 1952 rescue of 70 men (and the deaths of 14 more) aboard two oil tankers that were heavily damaged 20 miles apart during a fierce winter storm off Cape Cod. At times it reads as a character-driven narrative, with short, biographical sketches of many of the men; at other times, it speeds up with the pulse-pounding pace of a thriller. The authors ably capture the drama of the situation: seas at times reaching well over 50 feet, the "shudder and earsplitting crash" of a ship tossed on the waves, the pain screaming through the body of a man waiting to scramble out of the frigid water. On occasion, readers may get lost in some of the geographical details or names of crewmen that do not have a starring role. There are several pages of resources in the back matter, and a handful of them are available online. An inset containing 20 photographs is included. This poignant history should be an easy sell to readers of adventure, seafaring, or rescue stories. A Disney film is in development.-Bob Hassett, Luther Jackson Middle School, Falls Church, VA

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December 15, 2013
Grades 6-9 This young readers' adaptation of the authors' The Finest Hours: The True Story of the U.S. Coast Guard's Most Daring Sea Rescue (2009) was probably readied in anticipation of the upcoming Disney Studios film, and it's no wonderit includes the long odds, multiple young characters, and triumph of the human spirit that made films like The Perfect Storm and The Poseidon Adventure blockbusters. It's perhaps a tougher job to pull off in so few pages, as most of the characters go undefined beyond their courage. But what courage it is! In February of 1952, a violent nor'easter off the Cape Cod coast ripped in half not one but two tankers, leading to three separate and practically suicidal rescue attempts. The accounts of each rescue's logisticsfor example, sailors trying to time their leaps from their destroyed tanker to the rescue boat amid rocking wavesare nail-biting, and they are relayed by the authors with an effectively sober, just-the-facts terseness. It's invigorating if frustratingly abridged; those truly interested would do well to check out the original, too.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)