Flood : Mississippi 1927 [Paperback]

Kathleen Duey (Author), Karen A. Bale (Author), Bill Dodge (Author)

Book Description

Series: Survival

Flood: Mississippi, 1927: When the raging Mississippi threatens their secret cache of hard-earned nickels and pennies, Molly Bride and Garrett Wood risk their lives to retrieve the money that's their escape from the grinding poverty of their lives as sharecroppers.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 4-6-The year is 1927. After months of rain, the Mississippi River is flooding. The water is almost up to the doors of the houses in which Molly Bride and Garrett Wood live. Molly, who is black, and Garrett, who is white, have been saving every stray nickel or penny they earn for great plans when they get older and have hidden the money deep in the bayou. When the flood threatens to wash it away, the children get on their homemade raft to pole over to save it. Unfortunately, the raft is pulled into the flood's current, and they are in for a wild and dangerous ride. Although the story starts out slowly, once the two friends are swept away, it becomes a real page-turner. Every chapter contains a life-threatening struggle. Molly's fight with a cottonmouth is particularly gripping. This would make a great booktalk, particularly when paired with Patricia Lauber's Flood: Wrestling with the Mississippi (National Geographic, 1996), a nonfiction title that's also about the 1927 flood.
Elaine Lesh Morgan, Multnomah County Library, Portland, OR
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

Kathleen Duey's works include the middle grade series American Diaries and Survival, and the well-reviewed chapter book series The Unicorn's Secret, with a companion series, The Faeries' Promise, launching in Summer 2010 on the Aladdin list. She lives in Fallbrook, California.

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Aladdin (July 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0689821166
• ISBN-13: 978-0689821165
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,448,669 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I have published over 80 books for children of all ages and YA/Adult readers. Many have won state and national awards and all of them have brought me the kind of fan mail that writers love to get.

Two from today's email (Jan 27 11)
Dear Ms. Duey,

I am 8 years old and I live in Catalonia (Spain). I just finished reading your book "Moonsilver" with my mom, and I really liked it. I want to ask you, what was your dream in 3rd grade? I'm asking you because at the end of the book, it says that the series of the Unicorn's Secret books is based on a dream you had in 3rd grade. I am in third grade right now, so I'm really curious!!!
Please tell me

(writer's name)



Dear Ms. Duey,

I loved your book the Unicorn's Secret. Me and my mom read it together. I like your books because I like unicorns and your story was very exciting. I like to draw unicorns. They are one of my favorite animals. I have two stuffed animal unicorns. One is named Sparkle. I sleep with her every night. Did you always want to be a writer? Have you ever seen a real unicorn? I am in 1st grade. I love to read. When I grow up I want to be a animal trainer and I want to train unicorns if I can find one.

LOVE , (writer's name)


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YA readers are writing a lot, too. Most say something like this one:

I have been waiting for the third book in Skin Hunger trilogy forever. Ok not forever but it feels like it. When is it coming out? How long will you make me wait? I love these books and am really needing to know what happens to Sadima and Hahp!!!!!


I know, me, too. Please read below.
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If it is later than 6:30am PST, I am probably writing, even if I am on an airplane. I might be working on a faerie book or writing about unicorns for grade school kids, or I could be lost in something dark, detailed, and strange for YA/adult readers. The third book in the Resurrection of Magic Trilogy is dragging me through the woods. I am working on it every day, and am Skying instead of traveling to schools and libraries until I get it DONE. It's taking wild amazing turns and I love it.

If I am not working...I might be answering readers who contact me through my website: http://www.kathleenduey.com Thanks to everyone who gets in touch with me on Facebook, my blog, http://kathleenduey.blogspot.com/, Twitter, and all the other ways to reach me. I can't keep up anymore, but I try to answer questions and I send out signed bookplates when I can. It means so much to know that you like my books.

I appear at schools, bookstores, and teach at writers' conferences nationwide and internationally. There is a schedule on my website and I try to keep it current.
And more and more... I Skype. It's a wonderful way to meet readers in classrooms and at libraries, I love to drop in on book clubs and critique groups, then get back to work!

Book news: The Unicorn's Secret books are getting lovely new covers by Sandara Tang, an amazing artist based in Singapore. The fan mail astounds me.
Sandara is the cover artist for the new kid's series The Faerie's Promise, too. Excerpts from all my books are on http://www.kathleenduey.com

YA NOVEL ONLINE/IN PROGRESS: RUSSET fans: http://russet-one-wing.blogspot.com/
I am accumulating entries and will tag you all when there is more to read. Give me your contact info and I will add you to the alert list. kathleenduey at earthlink dot net

The third book of my YA/adult trilogy is in the works now. I don't have a release date yet because I still writing like MAD. But it will be ASAP, I promise. The story is taking amazing turns and dragging me through the woods the way the first two did. Thanks!!!! to the thousands of people asking when it will come out.

You have no idea how happy that makes me.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another great book from the Survival series., August 5, 2000

By 

Rebecca Herman (USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Flood : Mississippi 1927 (Paperback)

Most people think it's odd that Garrett Wood and Molly Bride are best friends. The place is Mississippi, the year 1927, and Garrett is white while Molly is black. But they ignore what everyone else says and remain friends. They're united in their dreams of getting away from their dreary lives on cotton farms. For some time now they've been saving money in a jar in the bayou. When the rising waters of the Mississippi threaten to put the bayou underwater, Garrett and Molly set out on their little homemade raft to retrieve the money. But instead, they end up being swept down the river. They encounter dangerous currents filled with debris, poisonous snakes, and storms. Their journey will truly test their courage and friendship. An excellant survival story with historical details about life in the south in the 1920s.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another exciting, page turning Survival! book., June 17, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Flood : Mississippi 1927 (Paperback)

Molly Bride and Garrett Wood are both from poor families barely making a living on Mississippi cotton farms in 1927. Molly and Garrett dream of getting away from Mayersville, their little home town. So for three years, they've been saving up nickels and pennies and hiding them in a secret place. But the rising, raging Mississippi threatens the money, and Molly and Garrett go to retrieve it. But the current wins, and they find themselves headed up the turbulent Mississippi on a little homemade raft. Can Molly and Garrett survive? I couldn't put this book down! The part with the water moccasin was so scary, I felt as if I was there. A very, very exciting book!

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Book!, January 24, 2006

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Flood : Mississippi 1927 (Paperback)

Another thriller from the SURVIVAL! series. These historical survival adventures are awesome. This book isn't as action-packed as the others, but it held particular interest to me becuase I'm of African-American descent like Molly and this adventure is set in just a turbulent time of history. I like that Garrett and Molly are best friends despite their skin color, and I like the fact they they fight together to survive the flood and get out alive.