When the worst happens Extraordinary stories of survival

Gr 4-8-Survival stories are hot, and these true-and astonishing-tales should have no trouble finding an eager audience. A variety of survivors are described here: Juliane Koepcke, who fell from an airplane into the South American rainforest; Jimmy Sanchez, who was trapped in a Chilean mine; and Kathy Ledtke, who found herself aboard the ill-fated Costa Concordia, among others. The stories are broken up "Choose Your Own Adventure" style, with readers instructed to flip ahead to another page to see what happens next (though they aren't permitted to sway the outcomes), resulting in a somewhat choppy feel. Though the illustrations won't draw in readers, the fast-paced writing and intriguing topic will easily attract children. Overall, this is a thrilling, well-sourced book, ideal for research or for browsing.-Anne Chapman Callaghan, Racine Public Library, WI (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Outlandishly enthralling tales of survival under extremeextremely extremecircumstances, peppered with do-and-don't tips. Four encounters with dire straits make up the body of this collection, but they are told in slices as Kyi enters the picture to help readers understand what the people did right and what they did wrong. One finds a small group abandoned on an ice floe in Arctic waters, another chronicles a young man trapped thousands of feet underground in a mine, and two others tell of the aftermath of plane and boat wrecks. First comes the hard-wired response to fight or fleethen there's hunger, thirst, freezing, broiling, getting enough oxygen and contending with all the little tricks the brain plays, including hallucinations and delusions. Parkins does a good job of blending sheer terror with glimmers of hope in his drawings, and it is hopethe survival instinctthat drives the book along. As Kyi recounts the four main stories with a controlled but dramatic flair, it is the sidebars that convince readers that survival is possible under the most crazy-wild situations. Post-trauma issues are also addressed, which can be as fearsome as the event itself. Kyi's fresh voice will have readers picturing themselves in the shoes of these real-life survivors. (Nonfiction. 9-12) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.