Customer Reviews

Into the Volcano: A Volcano Researcher at Work

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"Hawaii's Kilauea volcano rumbles under my feet with thunder I feel in my stomach. The air reeks of burning metal. A towering dark steam cloud looms over me. Without warning, a football-sized chunk of gooey lava drops out of the cloud and plops on the ground near me. I duck and run as more hissing red chunks spatter everywhere. These "lava bombs" could crush a skull as if it were an eggshell. What on Earth am I doing here, on the world's most active volcano?"

What O'Meara is doing there is research. Volcanoes are her passion. Along with husband Steve, O'Meara has traveled the world studying and photographing volcanoes.

What sets this book apart from others on the same topic are O'Meara's personal stories. In the chapter titled "Walk on the Wild Side," for example, O'Meara recounts her attempts to photograph-from the edge of a cliff-a lava tube pouring orange lava into the ocean. Her words and images combine to paint a vivid, compelling tale of both adventure and serious science.

Incorporated throughout the text are beautifully illustrated sidebars filled with factual information. Readers will learn about volcano types, pyroclastic flows, types of lava and more. Along the way they will also learn about O'Meara-about how she returned to college at age 32, fell in love with volcanology, and dedicated her life to studying them. A glossary and well-done index are included.

If volcanoes are a part of your curriculum, you must have at least one copy of Donna O`Meara's Into the Volcano in your classroom. Extremely accessible, informative, and entertaining, this is non-fiction at its best.

Highly recommended. Suitable for district-wide purchase.

Why anyone would do this for a living, I don't know. But finally someone has given a detailed account of what it's like to be a volcanologist. Her story makes volcanoes even more interesting than they used to be. My son didn't want to put this book down.

This student review appeared in:, June 8, 2005
Reviewer:This student review appeared in:
Odyssey Adventures in Science--

May 2005
A Cobblestone Publication
30 Grove Street Suite C
Peterborough, New Hampshire 03458

PAGE 48 DEPARTMENT: KIDS PICKS!

REVIEW BY: SOPHIA LIEBENSON-MORSE AND ANNA BONATTO, GRADE 7
SOUTH MEADOW SCHOOL,
PETERBOROUGH< NEW HAMPSHIRE

Into the Volcano: Donna O'Meara a Volcano Researcher at Work ( Kids Can Press 2004)

The first thing that drew our attention to this book was its pictures. As we flipped through the pages we found ourselves wanting to read more because of the beautiful and colorful photographs. When we saw something new (such as a field of red hot lava) , we were prompted to read and discover and feed our curiosity. This book helped us get a better understanding of volcanoes and their amazing eruptions.

Into the Volcano offers a brief background of the author, Donna O'Meara. In the beginning of the book, the author talks about her first experiences with volcanoes. ( She also talks about her marriage and her dog!) Each chapter introduces the different volcanoes she has explored. O'Meara explains about all the different types of magma and how it breaks through the earth's crust. We thought it was very interesting to read about someone who has experienced such amazing things, and it's not common for an author to talk about his or her own personal life.

The stunning pictures in the book helped us to understand the text better. The photographs are shot from an up-close perspective, which makes you feel like you are standing right there! If you are a visual learner , this is a very good book to read.

If we had a class assignment about volcanoes, this book would be great to get good information out of. We would like it to be in our science class-room. We think our teacher would be a very good audience for its materials. She loves to read about volcanoes and their fascinating but deadly eruptions. This book is for her!!
_____________________________________________  


 

From the Chicago Tribune May 2005, June 8, 2005
Reviewer:CHICAGO TRIBUNE HERALD
CHILDREN'S CORNER

By Mary Harris Russell. Mary Harris Russell, who teaches English at Indiana University Northwest, reviews children's books each week for the Tribune
Published May 1, 2005

By Donna O'Meara
Kids Can Press, $16.95
Ages 10-14 years
Or, how I learned to love and fear volcanos, or, do you want to be a volcanologist? Some books designed to explain science careers can be deadly dull. This one is not, partly because Donna O'Meara emphasizes from the start that deadly is just what this career could be. She tells of Katia Krafft, a successful volcanologist for 20 years until the day she and her husband were killed in a pyroclastic flow from Japan's Mt. Unzen. (And yes, the book will teach you about pyroclastic flows). The photographs, by O'Meara and her husband, Stephen, are memorable, and the text conveys a great deal of information about the different kinds of volcanos and how they behave. Exciting, even if you don't want to go there.

This is from the Washington Post May 8, 2005, June 8, 2005
WASHINGTON POST
May 8, 2005

Women who brave volcanoes, help gorillas and study the seas.By Karen MacPherson

By Karen MacPherson

Harvard University President Lawrence Summers incited an ideological riot earlier this year when he suggested that women may be innately unsuited for success in math and science. But Summers's remarks, for which he subsequently apologized, are a moot point to women like Donna O'Meara and Felicia Nutter. Their talents and interests led both women into careers in science: O'Meara as a globe-trotting volcano researcher and Nutter as a field veterinarian in Rwanda for a research project on mountain gorillas.

Their stories, as well as those of other curious and courageous women scientists, can be found in the pages of some splendid nonfiction books for children. Some of these books are newly published; others are older but still readily available. While boys also will enjoy them, these books convey a clear message: Science isn't just for males.

O'Meara's Into the Volcano (KidsCan, $16.95; ages 9-12) shows how researching volcanoes has given her a unique view of Earth's most mysterious and dangerous places. her riveting first-person narrative describes the thrill of seeing an erupting volcano up close -- so close that the soles of her sneakers began to melt.

The intrepid O'Meara tells readers how she and her husband, Steve, also a volcanologist, have dodged bandits and anti-government guerrillas to get inside the "cone" at the summit of the Pacaya volcano in Guatemala. The couple also spent a freezing night perched on a ledge near the top of Italy's Stromboli volcano, stranded by a freak winter storm. Although she doesn't minimize the dangers, O'Meara obviously revels in her work. Risking her safety to learn more about volcanoes helps her to predict their eruptions, and thus save lives.

Into the Volcano is filled with stunning color photographs taken by O'Meara and her husband. The book also contains an abundance of basic volcano information, placed in easy-to-digest sidebars.