The Donner Party

by Scott R. Welvaert, Ron Frenz (Illustrator), Charles Barnett III (Illustrator)

Overview

Tells the story of the Donner Party's struggle to reach California despite harsh weather and starvation. Written in graphic novel format.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780736868747
Publisher:	Capstone
Publication date:	09/01/2006
Series:	Disasters in History
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.12(d)
Age Range:	8 - 14 Years

About the Author

Scott R. Welvaert lives in Chaska, Minnesota, with his wife and two daughters. He has written many children's books. Most recently, he has written about Helen Keller, the Donner Party, and Thomas Edison. Scott enjoys reading and writing poetry and stories. He also enjoys playing video games and watching the Star Wars movies with his children.

Table of Contents

Chasing a dream — Hastings cutoff — Trapped in the mountains — A last hope.

Editorial Reviews

Books written in graphic format are favorites of mine. They are the types of books for students who are reluctant readers and never seem to finish a book on their own. They are also a superb way to introduce nonfiction books to young people. Young adults who want to read anything they can get their hands on will enjoy the graphics, exhilarating stories, and fast paced text. The full-color graphics make an enormous influence on the story. The author includes a box on most pages that includes narration that gives extra information to the reader to help with comprehension. This book is part of a new series about disasters in history, and this particular book deals with eighty-seven people journeying to California in 1846. During this journey, forth-one of the original eighty-seven people died. This nonfiction discusses hardships, disappointment, and how individuals had to make a decision about surviving starvation by practicing cannibalism. This is definitely a controversial topic. There are four chapters in just twenty-seven pages and all major facts are well covered. Vocabulary has been well selected, and this book is an excellent resource that could be used for writing a summary, a book report, or a source for research. At the end of the book the author includes two pages of additional information. In addition, there is a “Glossary,” “Read More” section, “Internet Sites,” “Bibliography,” and an “Index.” I highly recommend this book for children who want to start their own personal libraries, for classroom and school libraries, and for enticing the reluctant reader.

Children's Literature Comprehensive Database