November 18th, 1929. In her small village in Newfoundland, Celia is setting the table for her 13th birthday celebration when the house starts to shake. It's an earthquake, rumbling under the Atlantic Ocean. A few hours later, the sea water disappears from the harbor, only to rush back in a wave almost 30 feet high, destroying nearly everything in its path. Buildings, boats, and winter supplies of fish and food are washed away, and Celia and her community are devastated.
With their only phone line cut off and no safe route to get help, they are isolated and facing a long, cold, hungry winter. Celia and her family must band together and share the work needed for the community to survive. Can Celia find the courage to help her injured loved ones? And will help arrive before it's too late?
Based on the true story of an earthquake that shook Newfoundland's Burin Peninsula, A Terrible Tide tells the tale of this forgotten disaster from the point of view of a young girl whose life is turned upside down.
"Sticking to facts within Celia’s first-person narration, the tale will transfix readers with both the adventure of the tidal wave and its aftermath and the many historical details that bring to life an isolated but close-knit fishing community without electricity or motors and with both the general store’s newly installed telephone and the telegraph knocked out by the wave.... Gripping and strengthening." — Kirkus Reviews
Recommended Age | 9 - 12 |
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Author | Suzanne Meade |
ISBN | 1772602116 |
Publication Date | Sep 28, 2021 |
Publisher | Second Story Press |
Language | English |