Amity Middle School Orange Book Blog

Read reviews by an avid young adult book enthusiast.

Monday, April 9, 2012

Blizzard of Glass: The Halifax Explosion of 1917

I knew absolutely nothing about the largest man-made explosion before the atomic bomb. I would venture to guess that not many people know anything about this disaster. The author of Blizzard of Glass: The Halifax Explosion of 1917, Sally M. Walker, did a wonderful job of researching this piece of history.

The city of Halifax in Nova Scotia, Canada was a thriving port in 1917. With more than 45,000 people living in Halifax it was a major “jumping-off” port for ships carrying troops and supplies from North America to the countries involved in World War 1.

Because Halifax had a deep harbor, it could house ships of all sizes. The railroad stretched across the harbor area allowing the easy access of freight to the ships.

On the opposite shore from Halifax lays the settlement of Dartmouth. An unusual aspect of the harbor is its very narrow entry.

The inexplicable accident that caused the ship carrying explosives to ignite, devastated this close-knit community.

Read Blizzard of Glass: The Halifax Explosion of 1917 to find out  just how the accident occurred, how many people died, and how people for all over the Northeast rallied to help the survivors.

Out of Sight, Out of Time

Ally Carter's fifth book in the Gallagher Girls series will delight fans! Out of Sight, Out of Time is a complex mystery. Cammie has been found! She has been missing for an entire summer when she mysteriously ran away from the Gallagher Academy for Girls( the spy academy). Where was she found? In Europe! Everyone of her friends is angry with her--angry that she ran away, angry that she didn't include them, and angry that Cammie could have died.

Poor Cammie's memory has been altered. She is bruised. There are deep scratches on her arms. She has obviously been tortured yet she recollects none of it.

It is up to Bex, Zach, Liz, and Macey with the help of Cammie's Aunt Abby and her mom to solve the mystery of Cammie's summer that wasn't.