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Big Top Burning: The True Story of an Arsonist, a Missing Girl, and The Greatest Show On Earth
Winner of the 2016 International LIteracy Association Award for Intermediate Nonfiction
Winner of a Silver 2016 Eureka! Nonfiction Children’s Book Award from the California Reading Association "This meticulously researched book will draw readers in to a terrifying disaster story—and an unsolved mystery.” — Steve Sheinkin, award-winning author of The Port Chicago 50 “Woollett conveys the scope of the tragedy without resorting to sensationalism, and invites readers to examine the evidence and devise their own theories for the disaster. While the fire’s mysteries see no resolution, this compassionate history will spark curiosity and get readers thinking critically. Fascinating, devastating, and impeccably researched.” — Starred review, Booklist "History buffs and fans of forensic television shows will especially appreciate this exploration of one of the worst fires in American history." — Kirkus Named a Best New Children's Book by the Wall Street Journal. Featured in The Story Behind the Book in the Boston Globe. "Naturally attracted to stories of disaster and survival, Woollett knew that the circus fire was a perfect choice for her debut book for middle-grade readers: 'It has disaster; it has a mystery; it has a circus!' ... read more. |
Big Top Burning investigates the 1944 Hartford circus fire and invites readers to take part in a critical evaluation of the evidence
The fire broke out at 2:40 p.m. Thousands of men, women, and children were crowded under Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey’s big top watching the Flying Wallendas begin their death-defying high-wire act. Suddenly someone screamed “Fire!” and the panic began. By 2:50 the tent had burned to the ground. Not everyone had made it out alive.
With primary source documents and survivor interviews, Big Top Burning recounts the true story of the 1944 Hartford circus fire—one of the worst fire disasters in U.S. history. Its remarkable characters include Robert Segee, a 15-year-old circus roustabout and known pyromaniac, and the Cook children, Donald, Eleanor, and Edward, who were in the audience when the circus tent caught fire. Guiding readers through the investigations of the mysteries that make this moment in history so fascinating, this book asks: Was the unidentified body of a little girl nicknamed “Little Miss 1565” Eleanor Cook? Was the fire itself an act of arson—and did Robert Segee set it? Big Top Burning combines a gripping disaster story, an ongoing detective and forensics saga, and World War II–era American history, inviting middle-grades readers to take part in a critical evaluation of the evidence and draw their own conclusions.
The fire broke out at 2:40 p.m. Thousands of men, women, and children were crowded under Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey’s big top watching the Flying Wallendas begin their death-defying high-wire act. Suddenly someone screamed “Fire!” and the panic began. By 2:50 the tent had burned to the ground. Not everyone had made it out alive.
With primary source documents and survivor interviews, Big Top Burning recounts the true story of the 1944 Hartford circus fire—one of the worst fire disasters in U.S. history. Its remarkable characters include Robert Segee, a 15-year-old circus roustabout and known pyromaniac, and the Cook children, Donald, Eleanor, and Edward, who were in the audience when the circus tent caught fire. Guiding readers through the investigations of the mysteries that make this moment in history so fascinating, this book asks: Was the unidentified body of a little girl nicknamed “Little Miss 1565” Eleanor Cook? Was the fire itself an act of arson—and did Robert Segee set it? Big Top Burning combines a gripping disaster story, an ongoing detective and forensics saga, and World War II–era American history, inviting middle-grades readers to take part in a critical evaluation of the evidence and draw their own conclusions.
Novel Ideas: Chats with Local Authors with Laura A. Woollett
I was honored to be interviewed by Carol Lynne Luck and Josh Brogadir about Big Top Burning at my hometown TV station.
Here's the link to the full interview.
Here's the link to the full interview.
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