Lifeboat 5

Description: Based on the lives, rescue, and continuing friendship of British evacuees Bess Walder, 15, and Beth Cummings, 14, who spent fourteen hours in the North Atlantic with their hands grasped across their overturned lifeboat after the Nazis torpedoed the SS City of Benares on route to Canada in 1940. Includes historical notes.

Brief description: Susan Hood is the award-winning author of many books for young readers, including Ada's Violin, Alias Anna, Harboring Hope, The Last Straw, Lifeboat 12, and Shaking Things Up. Susan is the recipient of the E.B. White Honor Award, two Christopher Awards, the Américas Award, the SCBWI Golden Kite Award, and two Bank Street Flora Stieglitz Straus Awards, given to "a distinguished work of nonfiction that serves as an inspiration to young people." In addition to winning many state reading awards, Susan's books have been named a National Jewish Book Awards finalist, a Sydney Taylor Notable Book, a NCTE Notable Poetry Book, a NSTA Best Stem Book of the Year, an Amazon Teachers' Pick, a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection, and a Bank Street Best Book of the Year. Visit her at SusanHoodBooks.com.

Review Quotes: "Told in heartfelt, fast-paced verse, LIFEBOAT 5 is an excellent way for young readers to learn about this courageous and inspiring historical event."--Veera Hiranandani, author of Amil and The After and Newbery Honoree The Night Diary