This may be the first disaster book that I've read that felt truly possible. First, we have a kid in her home town, on familiar territory. Not lost in the woods or in a foreign country. She's just at the next door neighbor's house. And she has no special interest in survival skills, no hobbies that might aid her in a survival situations. She only has a basic babysitting course. Their ability to survive is based mostly on luck and trail and error. The degree of coincidence is a bit over the top but ti's pretty action oriented and ultimately pretty readable.

What do you do when you are caught in an earthquake, a 9.0, and you are cut off from eveything you are used to. No phone no internet, no water, and no food. Oh, and did I mention that there are bears? There I just did.

It is a good middle-grade adventure story about how to handle yourself in case your community is truck by a massive earthquake and you are by yourself with your baby sitting kids.

Hannah makes mistakes, all over the place, but also makes good choices, so you can't always get mad at how she reactvs to a very hard situation.

Good and realistic.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

What a great story! I really enjoyed this book and read it in one sitting. The children I work with will really enjoy it too. The story follows 13 year old Hannah as she babysits for her neighbour's children for the second time. Despite her nerves about being left in charge, all is going well, until an earthquake hits. With roads blocked, Hannah ends up being responsible for the two children for a lot longer than expected, in an increasingly hostile environment. I particularly liked how the author doesn't shy away from some of the horrible things the children have to face and does this in a child-friendly way but without it feeling too unrealistic. This book is really pacy and full of action, which I know will grip the children I work with. I look forward to sharing it with them.

WOW! This book had me on the edge of my seat from start to finish. Every page turn had a new disaster for Hannah. Her first real time babysitting and an earthquake starts to pull her world apart. Hannah has to deal with every struggle you can think of: houses falling apart, no food, lack of water, caring for a pet, giant cuts with no medical care, broken bones bears, no cell connection and more. You will so badly want Hannah to catch a break and know that the story ends okay.
Hannah had to learn about herself, her abilities and how to function with what she's got. Great read!

Hannah doesn't understand why her parents are SO overprotective, even though she occasionally has a hard time dealing with her asthma. She lives on Pelling, a small island outside of Seattle, and is glad that she has a chance to babysit for one of the few neighboring families. Usually, it's just for a short time while Ms. Matlock runs to the store, but when there is a gallery show, she gets to watch Oscar and Zoe for a little longer. Her mother will be home a little later in case she runs into problems, so she's looking forward to a little independence. She is also glad to have something to take her mind off her fight with her best friend, Neha. Ever since Hannah quit soccer because of her asthma, the two have grown apart, and when Neha doesn't want to work with Hannah on a project, the two have a text scuffle. All of those things become unimportant, however, when there is an earthquake! All three children (Zoe is just a couple of years younger than Hannah; 4th graders are pretty helpful) are worried, but they manage to ride out the quake, assess the damage, and think through what they need to do. When Hannah's cell phone stops working and Ms. Matlock does not come home, she tells the children that she is on her way to make sure they don't panic. Zoe is not happy the next day, but things slowly go from bad to worse. There are aftershocks and other small quakes that damage the house further and cause the refrigerator to topple. Hannah smells gas and knows that they have to leave the house, so they stay on the porch and then set up a tent when even that seems dangerous. They have a wind up radio and listen to the local news, but none of it is good. Hannah worries that her father, an architect working on a project on the coast, might have been killed, and she knows it will be some time before anyone gets back to the island. When food is low and the children's injuries become worse (Zoe gets glass in her arm and Oscar breaks his leg), Hannah decides they should make their way to her house, 3/4 of a mile away, and closer to the ferry. When her house is in even worse shape and circumstances seem dire, the three set out for the ferry. Will they be able to get help in time?
Strengths: Children saving the day alone without killing off any parents! Hooray! I loved that Hannah was irritated with her mother for hovering, but soon understood what it is like to be responsible for others. Having her be in 7th grade and having taken a babysitting course, and having her charges be in 4th and 2nd grade (or so-- e copies are hard to go back and scan) is perfect-- I babysat children that age from 5 p.m. to 2 p.m. for a neighbor in the summer, and certainly felt like I could have dealt with an earthquake! Yes, it's horrible, but it's also sort of exciting. I'm not normally a fan of flashbacks, but the first chapter of this was so suspenseful. The children consulting an encyclopedia for information and remembering some of their lessons on what gas smells like, etc. was brilliant. Really, really enjoyed this!
Weaknesses: I am usually a fan of inserting friend drama into every middle grade novel, but there were so many details about survival in this book that the subplot with Neha wasn't really necessary. It's not bad; just distracted me from the awesome tale of survival.
What I really think: Loved this one, and needed some fresh survival tales. This will be heavily used and I'm looking forward to giving it to students! Also, I apparently need to have a Go Bag in my closet.