Saving Thunder the Great: The True Story of a Gerbil's Rescue from the Fort McMurray Wildfire by Leanne ShirtliffeSaving Thunder the Great: The True Story of a Gerbil's Rescue from the Fort McMurray Wildfire by Leanne Shirtliffe

Saving Thunder the Great: The True Story of a Gerbil's Rescue from the Fort McMurray Wildfire

byLeanne ShirtliffeIllustratorGeorgia Graham

Hardcover | October 21, 2016

Pricing and Purchase Info

$21.95

Earn 110 plum® points

Prices and offers may vary in store

Out of stock online

Available in stores

about

"If you have to evacuate while I'm at work, just take Thunder the Great."
Those were Mamma's instructions the day before flames roared into Fort McMurray. On May 3, 2016, Mamma and Thunder the Great - a gerbil belonging to her son Jackson - were forced to flee their home. In a frightening rescue attempt, Mamma faces wildfire, traffic gridlock, an empty gas tank, and other challenges … all to get Thunder and herself to safety for the sake of her son.
Saving Thunder the Great is the true story of a hungry gerbil's rescue, a mother's love for her child, and the community who helps her.

Leanne Shirtliffe is the author of The Change Your Name Store, No More Beige Food, and Don't Lick the Minivan. When she's not writing, she can be found teaching high school or trying to convince her husband that they "need" a pet. Her children are on her side. She lives in Calgary and is proud to call Alberta her home.Georgia Graham...
Loading
Title:Saving Thunder the Great: The True Story of a Gerbil's Rescue from the Fort McMurray WildfireFormat:HardcoverDimensions:36 pages, 11 × 8.5 × 0.3 inPublished:October 21, 2016Publisher:Boulder PublicationsLanguage:English

The following ISBNs are associated with this title:

ISBN - 10:1927099854

ISBN - 13:9781927099858

Reviews

Rated 5 out of 5 by from A child-friendly telling of a traumatic true event Saving Thunder the Great: a true story of a gerbil’s rescue from the Fort McMurray wildfire, written by Leanne Shirtliffe is a story children will enjoy reading. It was May 1, 2016, when a fire started outside the northern city of Fort McMurray in Alberta, Canada. Jackson was visiting his grandparents in Newfoundland, the farthest eastern province of Canada, and had left his pet gerbil – Thunder the Great – in the care of his mother in Fort McMurray. His mother, Julie, was a young woman working nightshifts, trying to support herself and her son. On the afternoon of May 3 Julie was wakened by a friend urgently telling her they had to get out of there, the wildfire was spreading so that all 88,000 residents of Fort McMurray had to be evacuated immediately. The fire was moving so quickly she had time only to throw some clothes into a suitcase, grab the gerbil in his cage, and head her car – low on gas – out of the city. It was a terrifying experience. Along the way Julie stopped to pick up a few people who were walking in the choking smoke and let them out where they needed to go. Julie is the person who took a photo of a woman, Karley, riding her horse and leading her two others to get them out safely. That photo went “viral.” The Fort McMurray wildfires were very dangerous and destructive. Author Leanne Shirtliffe, talked with Julie several times to get her personal story of the events, and through Saving Thunder the Great: the true story of a gerbil’s rescue from the Fort McMurray wildfire, her story is told on a level suitable for children to read while not ignoring the real-life drama. Although the beautiful illustrations by Georgina Graham show how close the fire was to the thousands of people escaping to save their lives, they do not make this book too scary for young readers. Her work is impressive and realistic. In the back of the book you’ll find two pages of Author’s Notes about Fort McMurray and Julie, who is referred to as Mama through the story. Also, in case you read the publisher’s information on the last page and wonder about it … when I inquired about Saving Thunder the Great: the true story of a gerbil’s rescue from the Fort McMurray wildfire being listed as a fiction I was informed by the publisher “The book is non-fiction; the cataloguing citation is an error.”
Date published: 2017-10-16
Rated 5 out of 5 by from I loved this! Great Book!
Date published: 2016-09-12