Heroes are the exciting adventurers in the "penny dreadfuls" that 8-year old Henry Travis and his good friend, Ching, love to share. Henry's father is an ordinary banker and Ching's father serves as his houseboy. Neither man seems to live the live of excitement and daring the two boys long for.
But the ground beneath their city, San Francisco, is about to provide them with an entirely new view of their fathers. It is April 17, 1906 and the city is about to erupt into fire and mayhem as a massive earthquake moves the Earth and brings buildings down into the streets. It's chaos and fear and danger. The Earth Dragon has awakened.
The two boys run toward the ferry fighting their way through the rubble and the panic. Told in chapters that alternate the two boys' points of view, the story incorporates real-life anecdotes along with scientific information and the chronology of the days following the first quake.
As the boys consider their experience, they come to the realization that their own fathers became heroes in these desperate hours.
recommended by: Barb Langridge, abookandahug.com
************* "A gripping portrait of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake by Laura Ingalls Wilder Award winner Laurence Yep.
When the quake subsides, Chin and Henry and their families are lucky to be alive. But now they must escape the fires that have broken out and find their way to safety–before it's too late.
Based on actual events and told from the alternating perspectives of two young friends, The Earth Dragon Awakes is a suspenseful novel about the 1906 San Francisco earthquake by Newbery Honor author Laurence Yep."--from the publisher
117 pages Ages 8-11 978-0060275242
