Grade 2-5?This brief, well-illustrated book does a good job of describing the 1994 Northridge earthquake. In clear prose, Vogel describes the cause, the losses, and the clean up after the massive quake without sensationalizing her depictions. She highlights the acts of heroism and the tragedies that followed the natural disaster. The profuse full-color photographs are carefully selected and captioned to extend the information presented in the text. While minimal attention is given to the extensive devastation in other areas such as Santa Monica, the author does cover the subject thoroughly and objectively. For those who need information about this specific quake, with a little information about earthquakes in general, this is the best choice so far.?Anne Connor, Los Angeles Public Library
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Gr. 3^-6. Vogel adeptly walks the line between scientific information and the irresistible fascination with disasters that has generated many a movie, and she puts it all at child level. The disaster here is the 1994 earthquake near Los Angeles, which left 58 dead, destroyed more than 112,000 buildings, collapsed freeways, and started fires. The geologic reasons for the temblor, the resulting chaos, the thrilling rescues, the plans for future safety, and the likelihood for more quakes are all explained clearly and vividly. Large color photographs, along with maps and diagrams, do the rest, giving children a chance to see for themselves what really happened, without the inclusion of any grisly images. Susan Dove Lempke
See all Editorial Reviews
