Earthquake! by Shelley Tanaka

A Day That Changed America Series

Grade:  3-6

Summary:  On the early morning of April 19, 1906, the city of San Francisco was struck by a devastating earthquake that crumpled buildings, cracked water mains, broke gas pipes, and sent kerosene lamps flying. Fires quickly engulfed most of the city, leaving exhausted civilians to fight the flames with well water, sewer water, and old rags. 

Ten-year-old Doris Bepler is chiefly concerned with whether the earthquake means she can't attend a long-awaited picnic—until she discovers that her father's machine shop has burned to the ground; eight-year-old DeWitt Baldwin slips away from his family and sets off by himself to survey the city's vast devastation; teenager Sol Lesser borrows a horse-drawn milk wagon to assist in bringing supplies to the thousands of newly homeless camping in San Francisco's parks; in the most moving story of all, young Hugh Liang is abandoned by his closest relative, sees his Chinatown home destroyed, and has all his remaining worldly goods stolen while he is helping a frightened mother who is giving birth during the raging fires. The four interspersed narratives are illustrated with period photographs of the city's destruction and large, detailed, colorful paintings. 

the book also contains fact boxes on earthquakes, fire horses, and Chinatown, and includes a city map marked with sites mentioned in the text.

 
Book Details
Format: Hardcover with dj
Condition :like new; dj has some very light edge wear

Publisher: Hyperion/ Madison Press