Flooded: Requiem for Johnstown (Scholastic Gold)

by Burg, Ann E.

• ISBN13: 9781338540697
• ISBN10: 1338540696
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2020-10-06
• Publisher: Scholastic Press

Summary

Ann E. Burg explores the deep class divides and social injustice behind one of America's greatest tragedies.

* "Stunning, significant and sorrowful, Ann E. Burg's requiem melts history into prose... Highly recommended." -- School Library Journal, starred review

"Chillingly effective." -- Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

Johnstown, Pennsylvania, in 1889 was a lively, working-class factory city. Above the soot-soaked streets, an elite fishing and hunting club, built on a pristine man-made lake, drew America's wealthiest business barons. Though repeatedly urged to fix the deteriorating dam that held the lake, the club members disregarded the warnings. And when heavy rains came, the dam collapsed and plunged the city into chaos.

On that fateful day, six children found themselves caught in the wreckage.

The chorus of their voices--all inspired by real people--create a gripping portrait of loss and healing. Plumbing themes of class, injustice, deprivation, and the environment, Ann E. Burg summons her prodigious heart and virtuosic poetry to turn one of the deadliest tragedies in our country's history into a transcendent and hopeful work of art.

Author Biography

Ann Burg's debut novel, All the Broken Pieces, was named an ALA Best Book for Young Adults, a Jefferson Cup award winner and an IRA Notable Book for a Global Society, among its many honors. Her follow-up, Serafina's Promise, was named an ALA Notable, a Parents' Choice Gold Award Winner, and an NAACP Image Award finalist. Her latest novel, Unbound, was the winner of the New-York Historical Society Children's History Book Prize and the Christopher Award, among other distinctions. Burg worked as an English teacher for ten years before becoming a full-time writer. She lives in Rhinebeck, New York, with her family. Visit her online at annburg.com.