Bestselling author Lauren Tarshis tackles the Children's Blizzard of 1888 in this latest installment of the groundbreaking, New York Times bestselling I Survived series. Eleven-year-old John Hale has already survived one brutal Dakota winter, and now he's about to experience one of the deadliest blizzards in American history. The storm of 1888 was a monster, a frozen hurricane that slammed into America's midwest without warning. Within hours, America's prairie would be buried under ten feet of snow. Hundreds would be dead, thousands terrified and lost and freezing. John never wanted to move to the wide-open prairie. He's a city kid, not a tough pioneer! But his inner strength is seriously tested when he finds himself trapped in the blinding snow, the wind like a giant crushing hammer, pounding him over and over again. Will John ever find his way home?
“David Laskin deploys historical fact of the finest grain to tell the story of a monstrous blizzard that caught the settlers of the Great Plains utterly by surprise. . . . This is a book best read with a fire roaring in the hearth and a blanket and box of tissues near at hand.” — Erik Larson, author of The Devil in the White City “Heartbreaking. . . . This account of the 1888 blizzard reads like a thriller.” — Entertainment Weekly The gripping true story of an epic prairie snowstorm that killed hundreds of newly arrived settlers and cast a shadow on the promise of the American frontier. January 12, 1888, began as an unseasonably warm morning across Nebraska, the Dakotas, and Minnesota, the weather so mild that children walked to school without coats and gloves. But that afternoon, without warning, the atmosphere suddenly, violently changed. One moment the air was calm; the next the sky exploded in a raging chaos of horizontal snow and hurricane-force winds. Temperatures plunged as an unprecedented cold front ripped through the center of the continent. By the next morning, some five hundred people lay dead on the drifted prairie, many of them children who had perished on their way home from country schools. In a few terrifying hours, the hopes of the pioneers had been blasted by the bitter realities of their harsh environment. Recent immigrants from Germany, Norway, Denmark, and the Ukraine learned that their free homestead was not a paradise but a hard, unforgiving place governed by natural forces they neither understood nor controlled. With the storm as its dramatic, heartbreaking focal point, The Children's Blizzard captures this pivotal moment in American history by tracing the stories of five families who were forever changed that day. David Laskin has produced a masterful portrait of a tragic crucible in the settlement of the American heartland. The P.S. edition features an extra 16 pages of insights into the book, including author interviews, recommended reading, and more.
On January 12, 1888, a sudden blizzard barreled across Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, and the Dakota Territory. Blinding snow and howling wind took rural towns by surprise. Many children were stranded in one-room schoolhouses. Far from their homes on the Midwestern prairie, would the people caught in the storm survive? To understand the impact of a disaster, you must understand its causes. How did warm weather earlier in the day give people a false sense of safety? How did the lack of an accurate forecast contribute to the severity of the disaster? Investigate the disaster from a cause-and-effect perspective and find out!
Draws on oral histories of the Great Plains blizzard of 1888 to depict the experiences of two teachers, a servant, and a reporter who risk everything to protect the children of immigrant homesteaders.
The gripping story of an epic prairie snowstorm that killed hundreds of newly arrived settlers and cast a shadow on the promise of the American frontier. January 12, 1888, began as an unseasonably warm morning across Nebraska, the Dakotas, and Minnesota, the weather so mild that children walked to school without coats and gloves. But that afternoon, without warning, the atmosphere suddenly, violently changed. One moment the air was calm; the next the sky exploded in a raging chaos of horizontal snow and hurricane-force winds. Temperatures plunged as an unprecedented cold front ripped through the center of the continent. By Friday morning, January 13, some five hundred people lay dead on the drifted prairie, many of them children who had perished on their way home from country schools. In a few terrifying hours, the hopes of the pioneers had been blasted by the bitter realities of their harsh environment. Recent immigrants from Germany, Norway, Denmark, and the Ukraine learned that their free homestead was not a paradise but a hard, unforgiving place governed by natural forces they neither understood nor controlled. With the storm as its dramatic, heartbreaking focal point, The Children's Blizzard captures this pivotal moment in American history by tracing the stories of five families who were forever changed that day. Drawing on family interviews and memoirs, as well as hundreds of contemporary accounts, David Laskin creates an intimate picture of the men, women, and children who made choices they would regret as long as they lived. Here too is a meticulous account of the evolution of the storm and the vain struggle of government forecasters to track its progress. The blizzard of January 12, 1888, is still remembered on the prairie. Children fled that day while their teachers screamed into the relentless roar. Husbands staggered into the blinding wind in search of wives. Fathers collapsed while trying to drag their children to safety. In telling the story of this meteorological catastrophe, the deadliest blizzard ever to hit the prairie states, David Laskin has produced a masterful portrait of a tragic crucible in the settlement of the American heartland.
When a fierce blizzard suddenly kicks up on a mild winter day, a young Nebraska girl must find the courage and strength to lead others to safety in this novel inspired by the true story of the 1888 School Children's Blizzard. Twelve-year-old Anna loves life on the Nebraska prairie where she lives with her parents and four-year-old brother in a simple sod house. She doesn't mind helping out with chores, especially when she is herding sheep with her beloved pony, Top Hat. On the open prairie, Anna feels at home. But at school she feels hopelessly out of place. Arithmetic is too hard, her penmanship is abysmal, and stuck-up Eloise Baxter always laughs at her mistakes. When a unexpected blizzard traps Anna, her schoolmates, and their young teacher in the one-room schoolhouse, Anna knows they must escape before it is too late. Does she have the courage and strength to lead her class through the whiteout to safety? Alison Hart offers young readers a dramatic story of rescue and survival featuring a plucky, determined protagonist. An author's note provides more information about prairie life in the late nineteenth century and about the School Children's Blizzard.
When nine-year-old Sarah and her little sister, Annie, set out on their way to school on January 12, 1888, they have no idea what their day will hold. The weather’s so warm they go outside to play. Suddenly, the wind turns cold and begins to roar—it’s a blizzard! The wind is so strong it rips the school’s roof off. What will they do? The freezing snow is already up to their knees and without a roof they’ll freeze. Their teacher, Miss Freeman, ties them all together with a long rope and they head out into the blinding storm. Will they make it to safety in time?
Graphic novel format paired with gripping stories of historys most compelling disasters make these books true page-turners. Dramatic illustrations and fast-paced text provide a you-are-there experience. An additional information section provides key facts and further understanding.
Learn about the deadly and unexpected blizzard that slammed the Midwestern United States in 1888 and doomed many young lives in this addition to the New York Times Bestselling What Was? series. On January 12, 1888, a surprise blizzard broke out in the middle of the day across the Midwest. In its path, hundreds of children and teachers found themselves stranded inside schoolhouses with no food, no heat, and very few options. Days passed, and over 235 people died as result of the harsh snow of the Schoolhouse Blizzard, but many were able to survive thanks to the bravery of others in their communities. Learn all about the disastrous weather conditions and the people who were affected by it in this book for young readers.
