Scott,
Elaine. Buried
Alive. Houghton Mifflin/Clarion 80p $17.99 978-0-547-70778-5 elem E-BN
The disastrous Chilean mine collapse of 2010 is presented
for young readers in grades 3-6, with all the anxious moments of both trapped miners and relatives presented to readers in an appropriate way.
“Teamwork” and “hope” were the two words associated with the rescue. Throughout the book, which is filled with excellent color photos of trapped miners,
distraught relatives, and workers trying to devise a rescue plan, the author conveys a sense
of urgency to the reader. Teamwork is the principal that allowed
the trapped miners to survive in darkness for seventeen days without knowing if they would be
rescued. Teamwork is what
people above ground exhibited as they sought the means for a successful rescue. Relatives
and friends of the miners also banded together to maintain a vigil through the
over-two-month rescue
process. Hope was the emotion that
filled miners, relatives, and rescuers, as they never gave up on their belief that the miners could be
rescued. The author does an
outstanding job of presenting the lifestyle of the trapped miners, the
steadfastness of relatives in the camp outside the mine, and the international
efforts to provide equipment and ideas for rescuing the miners. This book is to be commended for the author’s statement on how she
researched her book and the afterword that relays the current status of the
miners,
which in many cases is far from the glory of the first month after rescue. An extraordinary book for students who want to learn about the value of
helping others through difficult times. In short, this is an outstanding account of the Chilean mine disaster with excellent
documentation and photographs for young readers that shows how hope and
teamwork can lead to a positive outcome. -- Lois McNicol
