About This Book:
This series is part of Scholastic’s early chapter book line, Branches, aimed at newly independent readers. With easy-to-read text, high-interest content, fast-paced plots, and illustrations on every page, these books will boost reading confidence and stamina. Branches books help readers grow!
Meet the Disaster Squad! Leela, Jaden, and the rest of the Jackson family travel the country and respond to natural disasters, helping people in need and rescuing animals along the way.
In this second adventure, the Jacksons are called to Texas, where a hurricane is heading down the coast. Stormy skies, flooding streets, and crowded storm shelters… there are people and animals in danger! Will the Disaster Squad be able to weather the storm and lend a helping hand?
With action-packed adventure and artwork on every page, Disaster Squad is the perfect series for any emerging reader!
*Review Contributed By Karen Yingling, Staff Reviewer*
Good information for hurricane season
After their adventures in Wildfire Rescue, Jaden and Leela Jackson are off to Texas to help with a hurricane. Their parents, a famous doctor and well-known photojournalist, go to disasters in the US to help out in their well-stocked RV. Jaden and Leela both have their own emergency packs, and for this new emergency, they get new flashlights. After dealing with both a flat tire and a rattle snake while on the road, they get caught in a torrential rainstorm but manage to rescue a teen boy and his sister, along with their cat, when their car breaks down. The group heads to the community shelter where they meet Mayor Garcia, who is organizing rescue efforts. After the power goes out, Jaden amuses other children with his new flashlight and shadow pictures before the family heads to another shelter. Windows need to be boarded up, and the water is rising quickly, but the family’s efforts helps. When a baby dolphin goes missing from a local aquarium, Jaden and Leela once again save the day, locating the animal and getting it the help it needs. The family settles in for some rest in their RV, but get a call from their grandmother in Minnesota, and are soon on their way to another disaster.
Good Points
There is a lot of information about different ways to prepare for hurricanes, and readers will learn about emergency packs, how storms are named, and what it is like to sleep in a shelter, among other things! The Jacksons always work with local authorities to figure out the best use of resources, and defer to them when necessary. It’s nice to see Jaden and Leela interact with local children and get to learn a bit about what life is like in other communities… and to get recipes for yummy treats like Texas Toast.
The illustrations help the settings make more sense; there are diagrams of what is included in an emergency kit, depictions of the inside of shelters, and views of the hurrican lashed shoreline. We also get to see Lucky, as well as other pets and animals. The buckets given to the family by a grateful farmer in the first book make another appearance, this time pouring water on the stranded dolphin!
Readers who want to read about disasters, and have finished all of Lauren Tarshis’ I Survived, Stier’s A Dog’s Day, or Calkhoven’s G.I. Dogs books will find the Disaster Squad books a good fit before heading on to titles like Mason and Stephens Rescue Dogs series or London’s Search and Rescue: Pentagon Escape.
