Broken Lives: A Victorian Mine Disaster (Survivors)

It is the 1840s in a northern England mining town, where disaster is about to strike. For young John Elliot and his family, life in the shadow of the grinding colliery wheel has always been hard, but they have no alternative. The physical risks are great and the rewards are few. Then a mine explosion occurs, and the Elliots discover the real cost of daring to dig deeper into the earth than any worms will ever go. Survivors is a brand-new and dramatic collection of short novels for young readers, each book about a young person caught up in a real-life conflict or disaster that boys and girls will recognize from their history books. The stories are fiction, but through each young hero's eyes, the boys and girls who read these tales will gain a deeper understanding of the day-to-day hardships and dangers encountered by people living and surviving through troubled times. Each book has a brief introduction relating actual historical events, and at the end of each book, young readers will find a brief historical note that places the story in a larger context plus a glossary of terms specific to the time and place. Boys and girls will also find a list of suggested further reading. Line illustrations capture the atmosphere of each story. Titles in this series are available in both paperback and hardcover editions. This is a paperback book. (Ages 10-13)