August 1, 2007
Gr 5-9-While camping out on the south flank of Kilauea, Dylan endures taunts and threats from older, glowering Louie, newest member of his Boy Scout troop from Hilo and with whom he has had a previous encounter. A campfire ghost story sets a suspenseful mood, which is heightened by the suggestion of some paniolosHawaiian cowboys who have camped out nearbythat the Goddess Pele, in the form of a dog Dylan has repeatedly seen, foretells trouble to come. That night there's an earthquake, then a bigger one. As the boys struggle to regain their senses, they are struck by a tsunami. Louie and Dylan, relatively uninjured, work together to find and help the others. Dylan swims out to rescue their dazed and injured scoutmaster and Sam, who desperately clings to a small rubber air mattress. Louie and Dylan undertake an arduous hike along the shore to obtain help. Spotted by a Coast Guard helicopter, the troop is rescued. Dylan and Louie may not have become best friends, but they've reached an appreciation of each others' strengths. An author's note explains the details of the story that are based on true events. Like Ivy Ruckman's "No Way Out" (HarperCollins, 1989), Salisbury's tale of courage, strength, and survival is appealing, exciting, and insightful."Joel Shoemaker, Southeast Junior High School, Iowa City, IA"
Copyright 2007 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
Starred review from August 1, 2007
Senior patrol leader of his Hilo, Hawaii, scout troop, eighth-grader Dylan looks forward to camping on the coast in the shadow of a volcano. But when he hears that Louie, atough, troubled kid, will be joining the scouts on thetrip, Dylan remembers when their paths crossed once before, and his anticipation turns to dread. Dylans sense of foreboding is justified tenfold. After a difficult trek to their campsite, an earthquake jolts the ground and shakes boulders down from the cliff. Then atsunami engulfs the area. Even in the midst of disaster, Dylan finds that support can come from unexpected directions. A strong sense of place informs the plot as well as the setting of this convincing story. Inan unusually compelling authors note, Salisburywrites ofcamping on the site of the 1975 natural disaster at Halape with his cousin, who lived through it as a Boy Scout. Inspired by that earthquake and tsunami, this vivid adventure soon strips away every vestige of normality, leaving characters dependent on their wits, their skills, and the mysterious spirits of land and sea for their survival. Salisbury weaves Hawaiian legend into the modern-day narrative to create a haunting, unusual novel that will practically booktalk itself.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)
September 1, 2007
Many a disaster story has begun with a small cadre of campers out in the wilderness, and Salisbury's latest -- about Boy Scouts caught on Hawaii's Big Island during the earthquake and ensuing tsunami of 1975 -- is no exception. What is exceptional, however, is that this story is based on a stranger-than-fiction episode in which Salisbury's cousin survived being carried over the coastline by the giant wave. Nature, in all her unsuspecting terror, is the main character here, but two members of the troop -- Dylan, the even-tempered narrator, and "bad boy" Louie, who came "into the troop with a chip on his shoulder the size of Australia" -- discover much about themselves as they find the inner strength necessary to help the other Scouts. Still, their actions are mere subplots to the tsunami's ferocity, and Salisbury's visual writing creates vivid scenes of water receding, giant waves advancing, and fissure edges sharp as glass. His attempts to weave legends about Pele into the narrative are less successful, but the real fury of the ocean creates a survival story that emphasizes the Scouts' motto: Be Prepared.
(Copyright 2007 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)
January 1, 2008
This story is based on a stranger-than-fiction episode in which the author's Boy Scout cousin survived a tsunami. Even-tempered narrator Dylan and "bad boy" Louie discover much about themselves as they help the other Scouts, but nature is the main character here. Salisbury's visual writing creates vivid scenes of water receding, giant waves advancing, and fissure edges sharp as glass.
(Copyright 2008 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)