The Disaster Days

(Hardback)

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Description

Bank Street the Best Children's Book Award of the Year list 2019

Age range 9 to 12

Thirteen-year-old Hannah's first real babysitting job turns into a nightmare when a major earthquake knocks out power and phones, cuts off the island, and leaves her stranded with two children.

Hannah Steele loves living on Pelling, a tiny island near Seattle. It's a little disconnected from the outside world, but she's always felt completely safe there. Which is why when she's asked one day to babysit after school, she thinks it's no big deal.

Zoe and Oscar are her next-door neighbours, and Hannah just took a babysitting class that she's pretty sure makes her an expert. She isn't even worried that she left her inhaler at home. Then the shaking begins. The terrifying earthquake only lasts four minutes but it changes everything, damaging the house, knocking out the power, and making cell service nonexistent. Even worse, the ferry and the bridge connecting the kids to help-and their parents-are both blocked. Which means they're stranded and alone...With Hannah in charge, as things go from bad to dangerous.

Teachers' notes available here

Reviews

"Fans of survival thrillers in the vein of Gary Paulsen's Hatchet will enjoy this tense, honest tale of bravery...an excellent (and refreshingly not didactic) teaching tool on natural-disaster preparedness." - Booklist
"A suspenseful, vivid story filled with lessons about responsibility and overcoming adversity." - Publishers Weekly
"The strength of this steadily paced novel that stretches over four days of a scary disaster scenario is that Hannah doesn't figure everything out; she stumbles, doubts, and struggles throughout it all" - The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
"A realistic, engrossing survival story that's perfect for aspiring babysitters and fans of John Macfarlane's Stormstruck!, Sherry Shahan's Ice Island, or Wesley King's A World Below." - School Library Journal

Author Bio

REBECCA BEHRENS is the author of three critically acclaimed middle-grade novels that explore famous historical figures and fascinating places- When Audrey Met Alice, Summer of Lost and Found, and The Last Grand Adventure. Her latest release, Alone in the Woods, is a thrillingly realistic survival story. Rebecca grew up in Wisconsin, studied in Chicago, and now lives with her husband in New York City. You can visit her online at rebeccabehrens.com.