Against All Odds

When we think of survival stories, visions of plane crashes in the wilderness and disasters at sea come to mind. However, Slake's Limbo by Felice Holman is an unusual addition to the genre, because the setting is the labyrinth of the New York City subway system and its tunnels.

 

Thirteen year-old Aremis Slake has faced alot of hardship in his young life. He lives with a neglectful aunt, has no friends, and is ignored in school. Unfortunately, he is small for his age, and is the target of bullies in his neighborhood. When they chase him, Slake always finds refuge in the subway and rides around until his world becomes habitable once again.

 

One day, things go particularly badly for Slake. First, he is pursued by bullies who take his sweater. Afterwards, he runs into a park and climbs a tree, where a park attendant threatens to call the police. Out of options, Slake runs into the nearest subway station, and remains in the tunnels for 121 days.

 

How does Slake survive and turn an unusual environment into a home? Does he ever come out of his subterranean lair?

 

This is a classic novel about homelessness, courage, and endurance.

 

 

 

A Voyage To Disaster

Here is the definitive book for Titanic enthusiasts and novices alike!

 

Award-winning, prolific author Deborah Hopkinson (Shutting Out The Sky) skillfully interweaves engaging, fact-filled text with high quality archival black-and-white photographs (telegrams, newspaper articles, etc.) to relate the unforgettable story of RMS Titanic, which, on its maiden voyage from Southampton, England to New York, hit an iceberg and sank in the frigid waters of the North Atlantic Ocean. Tragically, 1,496 people lost their lives in this catastrophic maritime incident. Deemed "unsinkable," Titanic was the largest ship and technological wonder of her time, and boasted features such as a gymnasium, spectacular first-class staterooms, and numerous elegant restaurants. This well-researched volume utilizes survivor and witness accounts - Captain Arthur Rostron of the rescue ship, Carpathia, Violet Jessop, a stewardess, Thomas Andrews, the ship's designer, a 9-year-old-boy, and a science teacher - to enable readers to experience the sinking from multiple perspectives. The author presents the ship's launching to its demise, the rescue of 712 survivors in lifeboats picked up by the Carpathia, and the discovery of the shipwreck on the ocean floor by marine scientist, Dr. Robert Ballard.

 

Other special features in this book are a glossary of nautical terms, a Titanic chronology, facts and figures, and a comprehensive bibliography.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ghostly Secrets

The prolific Betty Ren Wright (The Dollhouse Murders) has crafted another intriguing story that deftly mixes the supernatural realm with an engaging and sensitive coming-of-age story in which a young person, Christina Cooper, must rely on her own ingenuity and strength to find her own place in a situation where she feels uncomfortable, and forge a relationship with an uncle who prefers to remain solitary.

Independent and resourceful ten year-old Christina Cooper is not thrilled at the prospect of spending the summer with her Uncle Ralph in a foreboding house in the woods, while her parents are at a conference in Alaska. Clearly, Uncle Ralph prefers his own company, and Christina is left to her own devices. As she tries to find activities to fill her time, she discovers an unexpected, yet welcome visitor - a small boy who seems to appear and vanish before she can determine who he is. Convinced that the child is a ghost, she conducts some research into the background of the house, and discovers that two murders occurred there thirty years ago. Could this be the connection she seeks? When a malevolent presence manifests itself in the attic, Christina joins forces with her skeptical uncle to solve the mystery behind these events and set the past to rest.

This award-winning book will keep readers turning the pages until the very end. If you like ghost stories, I can also suggest Deep and Dark and Dangerous by Mary Downing Hahn or Down A Dark Hall by Lois Duncan.




 

 

A Portrait Of Courage

 

                                              

"He who saves a life saves the world entire."

                                                                  -The Talmud, the book of Jewish law

 

Alot of people mistakenly think that when terrible events occur, there isn't anything one person can do to change the situation. However, during the Holocaust, one of the darkest times of human history that resulted in the destruction of six million Jews, there were heroic individuals who remembered their humanity, came forward to save others, and made a difference that the world wouldn't forget.

 

Oskar Schindler is one such hero. Schindler was a German businessman who sheltered over 1200 Jewish workers in his munitions factory and saved them from the Nazis who were determined to kill them. He constructed deals with the Nazis, used the fortune that he made in business (war profits), and took enormous risks to help his workers. Even though many of the laborers had no useful skills, Schindler fooled the Nazis into believing they were essential. The list of Jews in this factory was known as "Schindler's List." He was later honored by the government of Israel for his actions. 

 

This heartfelt and moving memoir, The Boy On The Wooden Box, honors Schindler's courage, compassion, and heroism, and was written by Leon Layson, one of the youngest people on "Schindler's List." Layson, whose given name was Leib Lejzon, describes his family's life in pre-World War II Poland, the commencement of the war, and the oppression and persecution that began after the Nazi invasion. He describes his eviction form his home, transport to the Podgorze ghetto in Krakow, and concentration camps, and the circumstances that led to his job in Schindler's factory which required him to stand on a wooden box to reach the controls on the machine he had to operate.

 

This is an unforgettable portrait of Oskar Schindler, an extraordinary, yet contradictory man - member of the Nazi party, war profiteer, rescuer, hero - who put his own life in danger to help others, and of Holocaust survivor Leon Layson, who was saved because Schindler valued human life at all costs.

 

 

 

 

Against The Odds

 If you were in a life-threatening situation, would you be able to gather your wits and all available resources to survive?

 

15 year-old Robie lives on the Midway Atoll with her parents, who are scientists. She visits her aunt on Honolulu, but when  Jillian has to leave town unexpectedly, Robie plans to stay there by herself for a few days and enjoy a rare taste of freedom. When Robie is accosted by a dangerous stranger on the street, she decides to fly back to Midway on a cargo plane, a trip that she has taken many times. However, when an unxpected storm hits, the plane crashes in the Pacific, and Robie is thrown from the window with a life raft by Max, the co-pilot. Adrift for several days in the middle of the ocean with hunger, thirst, and sharks as their constant companions, Robie and the semi-conscious Max must figure out how to stay alive against formidable obstacles. What would you do?

 

The Raft by S.A. Bodeen is one of the most exciting survival stories I have read in a long time.

 

I also highly recommend Hatchet by Gary Paulsen and Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell.

A Courageous Fight For Survival

What do you do when your future suddenly takes an unexpected turn?

 

When you face a crisis can you learn to become resourceful and strong?

 

Matilda Cook is a strong-willed sixteen-year-old girl who lives in Philadelphia, which, at the end of the eighteenth century, was the nation's capital. She complains about being overworked and her mother's steadfast determination to find her a "suitable" husband.. She helps her mother and grandfather run their family's coffee house, and envisions how to make it the most prominent business establishment in the neighborhood so she can become rich. However, during the summer of 1793, the yellow fever descends on Philadelphia with a vengeance, and decimates the population. Mattie's concerns are soon forgotten, because when her mother becomes ill, the teen and her grandfather are sent to the countryside to escape the disease. When Mattie returns to Philadelphia to await the end of the epidemic, she finds that her mother has disappeared, and a once vibrant city is fraught with danger at every turn. How will Mattie survive on her own?

 

Fever 1793 is an exciting work of historical fiction that is based on a real-life yellow fever epidemic in Philadelphia that killed thousands of people in just a few months.The author expertly interweaves a compelling story, well-researched facts, and engaging characters.

Don't Judge A Book By Its Cover!

 

 R.J. Palacio's Wonder, a sensitively written and extraordinary story, introduces us to August Pullman, a ten-year-old boy, who has severe facial deformities and was homeschooled his entire life. In addition to endless hospitalizations for his condition, he had to endure the stares and taunts of insensitive people on the street. Now that the majority of his numerous surgeries have been completed, his parents have decided to send him to a private school in his neighborhood where he will attend fifth grade. August is worried that he will be bullied, and fears the reactions of his classmates. Will they be cruel or compassionate? Will he fit in? This book is a "wonder" because it makes us contemplate the nature of courage, kindness, and heroism. Be sure to read the companion volume 365 Days of Wonder: Mr. Browne's Book of Precepts.