(4) 4-6 Survivors series. Suspenseful and fraught with danger, the third-person narration alternates between orphaned Maximo (circus elephant handler in training) and equilibrist Jodi. When their circus train wrecks in rural Kansas, both children face challenges: Jodi's fear of heights since her mother's crippling accident, and Max's inexperience with animals. Details of circus life are incorporated throughout; unfortunately, this formulaic historical-fiction series lacks contextual back matter.

Reviewer: Amy Seto Forrester

(4) 4-6 Survivors series. With their father injured, a broken wagon axle, and limited resources, Will and his sister must travel alone through perilous Death Valley to search for help to save their stranded family. Like other historical Survivors installments, the book is formulaic, but Duey and Bale provide a tense, gritty portrayal of the 1849 westward journeys on which small mistakes could be fatal.

Reviewer: Andrea Curtis

(4) 4-6 Survivors series. Cousins Maggie and Haydn become close while surviving extreme cold, snowslides, and starvation in an 1886 Colorado blizzard. The fast-moving (if formulaic) historical narrative alternates between hardworking country girl Maggie and spoiled, citified Haydn; practical Maggie is more endearing than whiny Haydn, but the survival story remains compelling. Many Rocky Mountain flora, fauna, and locations are mentioned, lending authenticity to the setting.

Reviewer: Amy Seto Forrester

(4) 4-6 Survivors series. Bread delivery boy Brendan and an unhappily betrothed girl from Chinatown, Dai Yue, make for unlikely companions as their paths cross during the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Duey and Bale's incorporation of interesting cultural and historical details work to offset the formulaic structure of this series in which strangers must work together to survive crisis.

Reviewer: Andrea Curtis

(4) 4-6 Survivors series. Duey and Bale tackle the retelling of two historical tragedies--the sinking of the Titanic and the Great Chicago Fire--each through the alternating perspectives of a boy and a girl. Period references supplement formulaic plot lines, in which two strangers fight for survival together; each personal and immediate-feeling story handles death in a peripheral but meaningful way. Review cover these Survivors titles: Fire and Titanic.

Reviewer: Andrea Curtis

(4) 4-6 Survivors series. Duey and Bale tackle the retelling of two historical tragedies--the sinking of the Titanic and the Great Chicago Fire--each through the alternating perspectives of a boy and a girl. Period references supplement formulaic plot lines, in which two strangers fight for survival together; each personal and immediate-feeling story handles death in a peripheral but meaningful way. Review cover these Survivors titles: Fire and Titanic.

Reviewer: Andrea Curtis