Description

“At 11:35 p.m., as Radio Armero played cheerful music, a towering wave of mud and rocks bulldozed through the village, roaring like a squadron of fighter jets.” Twenty-three thousand people died in the 1985 eruption of Colombia’s Nevado del Ruiz. Today, more than one billion people worldwide live in volcanic danger zones. In this riveting nonfiction book—filled with spectacular photographs and sidebars—Rusch reveals the perilous, adrenaline-fueled, life-saving work of an international volcano crisis team (VDAP) and the sleeping giants they study, from Colombia to the Philippines, from Chile to Indonesia.

About the Author

Elizabeth Rusch is the author of You Call This Democracy?, a finalist for the YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults, and more than a dozen acclaimed children’s books, including picture books, middle grade, fiction, nonfiction, and a graphic novel. In a starred review Kirkus called her book The 21: The True Story of the Youth Who Sued the U.S. Government Over Climate Change a “nail-biting account of a still-unresolved landmark case.” She lives in Portland, Oregon, with her family.

Tom Uhlman has been a freelance photographer for more than twenty-five years. He photographs lots of news and sporting events, but enjoys shooting pictures of wildlife and the natural world most of all. Tom's photographs can be seen in the Scientists in the Field books written by his wife, Mary Kay Carson.

Praise For…

"High-stakes science, portrayed in one of the scarier entries in this bar-setting series."
—Kirkus, starred review

"This book gives tragic and terrifying volcanoes a sense of story that other books lack by talking about real-life crises and how individuals came together to keep millions of people safe. . . . A great addition for all collections."
—School Library Journal, starred review

"Images of the destruction may initially draw the casual browser, but far more impressive is the balance of vivid photographs that bring the international scientists into the limelight."
—Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

"[A] terrific addition to the Scientists in the Field series . . . The portrayal of scientific investigation is exceptional."
—The Horn Book Magazine, starred review —