Firestorm (Adventures in Time)

Maggie hates moving from beautiful Superior, Wisconsin, to dusty Hinckley, Minnesota, in 1894, until she almost loses her family to a forest fire that sweeps through the town.

Grades 3-6--The tragic story of the 1894 Hinckley, MN, fire, which killed more than 400 people in four hours, is recounted by 13-year-old Maggie. She hates the dry, dusty beginnings of the town she has just moved to with her grandmother, father, and two brothers; she misses her friends sorely and makes no attempt to become a part of the new life. The day the fire destroys the town and a terrifying number of its inhabitants, everything changes for her. Separated from her brothers and not knowing if they are alive, she quickly realizes the importance of her family. The descriptions of the rapidly spreading fireballs are horrifyingly presented as Maggie and her grandmother help with the injured and the dead. The retelling of the real destruction wreaked by that powerful fire and how amazing numbers of people survived is a powerful piece of history. The actual novel itself, however, is less successful. The characters are mostly stereotypical-the rough-and-ready brothers, the grandmother with a heart of gold, the overworked father, and the girl who is changed-and flat, lending little literary value to the story. Purely supplemental historical fiction.
Kay Bowes, Concord Pike Library, Wilmington, DE
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Based on the true story of the 1894 forest fire that killed more than 400 residents of Hinckley, Minn., Firestorm by Jan Neubert Schultz follows a 13-year-old girl and her family on their desperate attempt to flee the lumber town aboard a crowded train.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.