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Informationen zum Autor Steve Korte; Illustrated by Dede Putra Klappentext "On January 12, 1888, a surprise blizzard broke out in the middle of the day across the Midwest. In its path, hundreds of children and teachers found themselves stranded inside schoolhouses with no food, no heat, and very few options. Days passed, and over 235 people died as result of the harsh snow of the Schoolhouse Blizzard, but many were able to survive thanks to the bravery of others in their communities. Learn all about the disastrous weather conditions and the people who were affected by it in this book for young readers"-- Leseprobe What Was the Children’s Blizzard of 1888? January 12, 1888, started out as an unusually warm and sunny winter day in much of the central and midwestern parts of the United States. This area was known as the Great Plains. In the days leading up to January 12, the temperature in that region had rarely gotten above zero degrees. That was not a surprise to the people who lived there. Winters in the Great Plains were almost always brutally cold. But the weather surprised everyone on January 12, as unusually warm temperatures hit the region. In the town of Aberdeen, in what is now South Dakota, the temperature rose to twenty-eight degrees. That might not seem very warm, but compared to a temperature of zero, it felt wonderful. Throughout the Great Plains, children walked to schools without gloves or hats. Many of the children wore just a light jacket. Farmers went outside to do their chores without their overcoats. The clear, sunny skies and warmer temperature were a welcome relief. In addition, there were no warnings about cold weather returning to the area any time soon. But that afternoon, the weather suddenly changed. The sunny skies disappeared. Children and teachers looked out the windows of their schoolrooms and watched nervously as a cloud of darkness swept across the skies. Temperatures suddenly plunged to forty-seven degrees below zero in some areas. Winds started howling, gusting at more than seventy miles an hour. A mixture of ice and snow started falling. The violent storm hit without warning. Farmers out in the fields tried to find their way back home, but the snow was so thick and the winds so strong that they couldn’t see. The snow started blowing sideways, freezing the eyelids of anyone standing outside. Children were trapped in their classrooms as the storm battered their schoolhouses. Some students made the difficult decision to brave the roaring winds and blinding snow as they attempted to return to their homes. A day that had started so happily soon acquired a new and terrible name. The horrible storm on January 12 would soon be known as the Children’s Blizzard of 1888. Chapter 1: New Arrivals During the 1800s, the population of the United States grew quickly. Many new immigrants arrived from Europe. During the years between 1850 and 1890, the population of the United States grew from twenty-three million to sixty-three million, almost tripling the number of people living there. Most of these immigrants were very poor, arriving without jobs or money. Many found homes in crowded and usually run-down apartment buildings in New York City, Boston, Philadelphia, and other big cities. But tens of thousands of other immigrants decided to make a second journey after they arrived in the United States. They traveled west. In 1888, there were only thirty-eight states in America. The large midwestern region of the country that now includes the states of Montana, North and South Dakota, Idaho, and Wyoming was divided into what were known as federal territories. They were part of an even larger area known as the Great Plains, which included the entire states of Kansas and Nebraska, along with parts of Colorado, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, ...
