Joplin Tornado Survival Stories

April 1, 2016

Gr 3-6-Following a two-page overview of the title event, each volume presents four or five dramatic accounts of people who experienced the effects. Photos of survivors accompany many stories, including those of a small boy pulled from Haiti's earthquake rubble and a man floating on his house 10 miles off the coast of Japan. Along with tales of heroic rescues are unusual discussions such as how animals fled well before people sensed the Indian Ocean tsunami and how a structure was designed to survive wildfires. The locations, causes, and extent of each disaster are well documented. VERDICT Individual accounts of disaster survivors put human faces on statistics of injuries, fatalities, and devastating losses. A top choice for most collections.

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 1, 2016
Grades 2-4 Despite the countless damages caused by natural disasters, there are often stories of hope and endurance to be found. Without glossing over tragedy, the Natural Disaster True Survival Stories series emphasizes acts of human kindness and bravery. Similarly, Joplin Tornado depicts lifesaving actions, from the small (a boy survived after his mother made him wear a helmet) to the larger scale (a restaurant manager saved all patrons by sheltering them in a walk-in freezer). Though each volume is careful to end on a positive note, there is not much discussion of the aftereffects of the disasters. Still, the clean, crisp layout is easy to navigate. Glossy photographs capture the scope of the disasters and the rescue efforts, while charts and tables provide an at-a-glance look. A useful and encouraging resource.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)