Lizzi Newton and the Sand Francisco Earthquake

Lizzie Newton and the San Francisco Earthquake

• author:  Stephen Krensky  http://www.stephenkrensky.com/
• illustrator:  Jeremy Tugeau  http://jeremytugeau.com/index.html
• medium:  oil
• year of publication:  2011
• publication city:  Minneapolis, MN
• publisher:  Millbrook Press
• ISBN:  978-0-8225-9031-6

Annotation:  While Lizzie Newton is staying at her grandmother’s house, the great San Francisco earthquake occurs in the middle of the night.  After Lizzie gets her injured grandmother to the hospital, the young girl is on her own. 

Personnal Thoughts:  I live so close to San Francisco and visit it quite often.  To imagine living during the great earthquake of 1906, I’d have plenty of ideas as to how things looked and what I’d be doing.  For some reason, Lizzie Newton and the San Francisco Earthquake doesn’t seem like a genuine representation of a famous San Francisco event.  While some actual locations are mentioned, Russian Hill, Union Square, author Stephen Krensky doesn’t really describe San Francisco.  I never really felt like Lizzie was a fleshed out character in a city I personally hold dear.  The story of how Lizzie survives the earthquake and searches for her parents is lacking in the specific details that make a story engaging, interesting and satisfying. 

The book does include a script of the book that can be performed by a classroom, which is a brilliant idea and should be copied by books written with more personality and interest. 

The artwork is quite nice with an impressionist style of painting, but again, fails to capture the essence of San Francisco.

***Curriculum Connection -  5^th Grade U.S. History, San Francisco Earthquake, 20^th Century California History