Title: Radar and the Raft
Author: Jeff Lantos
Major Themes: Radar, Survival, World War II
Synopsis: When their ship was torpedoed in the Atlantic Ocean, the Bell family held on to life, hoping for rescue—how was the radar developed by which they were eventually found?
When I look at lists of books available for review, one of the things I keep my eyes open for is realistic historical fiction or nonfiction in the form of a story for children. I have always loved studying history myself, and I especially like it in story form—but I do not like the fantasy/time travel style that is popular right now. I was delighted to find, recently, the book Radar and the Raft, a story about survival and an amazing rescue during World War II. When I received my digital copy, I skimmed through the first several chapters to see if it would be suitable for a family read-aloud, and when I determined that it was pretty clean, I read it to my children.
Publisher’s description:
Who knew that an improbable rescue during WWII would be facilitated by scientific discoveries in the 18th century?
Expert researcher and educator Jeff Lantos makes the history-science connection between batteries and radar and one oceanic adventure in this engaging middle-grade escapade told in two intertwining storylines.
Readers are first invited to follow scientific discoveries in the 1700s that eventually lead to the creation of radar, and are then immersed in a world where World War II rages. German U-boats sink ships, and the ship just hit has an American mom and her two young kids aboard. Now Ethel, Robert, and Mary Bell are on a raft with fourteen other people, floating in the ocean and hoping for rescue.
Lantos expertly weaves radar’s story of discovery with the Bell family’s harrowing journey, bringing readers on an exciting fast-paced adventure through history.
My thoughts:
What a story! We all loved Radar and the Raft. The chapters alternate between the two stories; first, there is a chapter about the Bell family and their predicament, and then a chapter about the science leading to the use of radar during World War II. I thought this was a very effective way to teach about that; if the story of the shipwreck and rescue had not been woven through the book, the science part would have become rather boring to me. However, with the exciting survival story in between chapters about scientific discoveries, this book kept us engrossed from beginning to end. This is one that I want to buy a print copy of!
I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley, and these are my honest thoughts about it.
WARNING: Chapter 4: (Note about U-boats) “Get the hell out of here.” Chapter 6: Shipwreck, people killed, O my God, for God’s sake, the poor devil, for heaven’s sake. Chapter 7: Pretty darn close. Chapter 8: Poor devil, Oh God, damned stupid, last paragraph talks about evolution. Chapter 10: Dead man eaten by sharks, friggin’ women, this damned thing, damn you. Chapter 13: U-boat sunk, (in note) woman kills man with rifle, you damned fools, guns fired at people, you sons of bitches, by God.
Age levels:
Listening Level—Ages 5 – 8, 8 – 12
Reading Independently—Ages 8 – 12
Links to buy this book:
Amazon: Kindle | Hardcover
AbeBooks: View Choices on AbeBooks.com
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