Three Rivers Rising: A Novel of the Johnstown Floodby Jame Richards
Knopf, 2010. 293 pgs. Young Adult
Peter, a poor boy, and Celestia, a daughter of privilege, meet and fall in love in the ill-fated days before the Johnstown Flood of 1889, when 2,209 people died after an earthen dam gave way sending billions of gallons of water down a narrow canyon in Pennsylvania. In Jame Richards' exemplary new verse novel, Peter, Celestia, Celestia's father, the wife of a railroad engineer and a young widowed nurse alternately tell their stories of the days leading up to and the horror following the--at that time--greatest civilian disaster in United States' history. Peter and Celestia are lovely young people with whom it is easy to sympathize and we follow their secret romance with the growing tension of knowing that when she runs away from her snooty industrialist father to be with Peter, they will both be in the path of the flood. The reader also doesn't know whether Maura's husband will outrun the flood as he steams down the mountain with his train whistle blowing full blast, or whether Kate should stay in the safety of the train leaving the valley or make her way to high ground. Reluctant seekers of historical fiction will find a treasure in this short but powerful narrative which has a bit of everything: suspense, sorrow, family feelings and rejections, class injustices, and as frightening an historical event as one might well imagine.
1 comment:
I really liked this book; it was a gripping story, and the author weaved together the characters' stories to show how many different people were affected by the flood, and as the same time, gave a great glimpse of the history and social dynamics of the time.
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