Description

Thirteen-year-old Hannah's first real babysitting job turns into a nightmare when a major earthquake knocks out power and phones, cuts off the island, and leaves her stranded with two children.

Publisher Marketing:

Hatchet meets The Babysitters Club in this epic and thrilling survival story about pushing oneself to the limit in the face of a crisis.

We were all alone, in a shaken and shattered house, in the dark. And I was in charge.

Hannah Steele loves living on Pelling, a tiny island near Seattle. She's always felt totally safe there.

So when she's asked to babysit after school one day, it's no big deal. Zoe and Oscar are her next-door neighbors, and Hannah just took a babysitting class, which she's pretty sure makes her an expert. She isn't even worried that she left her inhaler at home.

Then the shaking begins.

The terrifying earthquake only lasts four minutes, but it changes everything--damaging the house, knocking out the power, and making cell service nonexistent. Even worse, the ferry and the bridge connecting the kids to help--and their parents--are both blocked, which means they're stranded alone. And Hannah's in charge as things go from bad to worse.

Praise for The Disaster Days:
A realistic, engrossing survival story that's perfect for aspiring babysitters and fans of John Macfarlane's Stormstruck!, Sherry Shahan's Ice Island, or Wesley King's A World Below.--School Library Journal
The strength of this steadily paced novel that stretches over four days of a scary disaster scenario is that Hannah doesn't figure everything out; she stumbles, doubts, and struggles throughout it all.--The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
Fans of survival thrillers in the vein of Gary Paulsen's Hatchet will enjoy this tense, honest tale of bravery...an excellent (and refreshingly not didactic) teaching tool on natural-disaster preparedness.--Booklist
The relentless progression of a variety of disaster scenarios will keep readers turning pages...equally suspenseful and informative.--School Library Connection
Behrens uses immersive details and situations effectively viewed from Hannah's perspective to create a suspenseful, vivid story filled with lessons about responsibility and overcoming adversity.--Publishers Weekly