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Bezig met laden... An American Holocaust: The Story of Lataine's Ringdoor Kerry L. Barger
   Geen Bezig met laden...
 Meld je aan bij LibraryThing om erachter te komen of je dit boek goed zult vinden. Op dit moment geen Discussie gesprekken over dit boek.  Sarah_Gruwell | Jan 12, 2016 |  geen besprekingen | voeg een bespreking toe
On March 18, 1937 at 3:17 pm, one of the most modern school buildings in America exploded in a rural community decimating the student population and destroying innocent lives. Considered the worst public school disaster in U.S. history, controversial theories surrounding this tragedy are still debated to this day. The event sparked changes that soon reverberated around the world and continue to affect each of us in our homes, schools, businesses and places of worship. This story relays more than simple facts. It is a personal account of unprepared loss and shattered dreams, followed by unfathomable grief. It describes the feelings of those who died in their innocence and of those who witnessed horror and lived through the aftermath. This is also a story of hope. Countless lives have been saved by bold actions that were taken in the wake of this unanticipated sacrifice of so many children who were literally consumed by fire on the day a generation died in Texas. Geen bibliotheekbeschrijvingen gevonden. |
LibraryThing-AuteurKerry L. Barger is een LibraryThing auteur: een auteur die zijn persoonlijke bibliotheek toont op LibraryThing. Actuele discussiesGeenPopulaire omslagen  
 Google Books — Bezig met laden...GenresDewey Decimale Classificatie (DDC)973History and Geography North America United StatesLC-classificatieWaarderingGemiddelde: (3.14)
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1
I felt connected to these children and their families by the author's format in telling the story. We got into all the individual's heads and see the events through their eyes and thoughts. That takes a special talent of writing, let me tell you. Someone who can pull off a 10 year old girl and then do a 180 and get into the head of her father has some serious writing chops.
The first third of the book was dedicated to building the setting and the individual lives this tragedy affected. This was the one area in which the book suffered a bit. I did get a feel for all the players in the story, don't get me wrong. But the author tended to meander off the topic of New London completely into totally different stories like details about the Hindenburg and other events going on during this time frame. Now I can see where mentioning these events and going into them a bit does set the time for our story. But really?! Whole paragraphs and pages full?! It felt like overkill and really bogged down the first part of this book.
Once we got to the day of the tragedy, however, this book just slams the reader in the gut. We see the fates of all the people we got to know in the first part of the book. We get to see how the explosion effects our world and still stays with the survivors today. Just the sheer scope of the tragedy and the fate of all these children astounds my heart and brain even now. The book tells the story through the personal stories of the victims and survivors; yet, it also draws on some firsthand accounts of rescuers, journalists, and speeches given after these terrible events. The book is richer for these words directly from the mouths of people who saw the horror for themselves.
This book is one that I think everyone needs to read. It's powerful content and personalization of the victims, survivors, and their families makes the reader think, feel, and just mourn. Despite some meandering off topic in the first part, this book is very solid. I felt honored to have read it and to remember the unfortunate events in Texas in 1937. (