Witness to Disaster: Hurricanes

Judith and Dennis Fradin have published over 150 books for children. They have won many awards, including the 2004 SCBWI Golden Kite Honor book award for The Power of One: Daisy Bates and the Little Rock Nine. Their most recent National Geographic title 5,000 Miles to Freedom: Ellen and William Craft’s Flight from Slavery was named one of Chicago Public Library’s Best Books of the Year, a Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People, a School Library Journal Best Book of the Year, and received a Blue Ribbon from the Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books.

Grade 4–7—Opening with an account of Hurricane Katrina, the Fradins feature quotes from storm survivors in text and captions. Following a chapter on the science of hurricanes are discussions of historic storms, including a 13th-century Japanese "kamikaze" typhoon that destroyed the Mongol navy; a 1609 hurricane that blew a supply ship, the Sea Venture, off its route toward the North American colony to Bermuda; the 1900 hurricane in Galveston, TX; as well as hurricanes in Florida (1928), New England (1938), Mississippi (Camille, 1969), and the East Pakistan cyclone (1970). The book concludes with predictions and reasons for the recent increase in hurricane activity. Quality color photos illustrate the nature of hurricanes and the damage they cause. More detailed and at a more advanced reading level than Seymour Simon's Hurricanes (HarperCollins, 2007), this book adds the extra dimensions of survivors' accounts and a more historic focus.—Jeffrey A. French, formerly at Willoughby-Eastlake Public Library, Willowick, OH
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