This book gives personal accounts to the chicago fire. It explains many mistakes and the overall chaos of the situations. This has been a great informational book with maps to outline the damage as the fire spread. This would be a good book for children just because all of the pictures, maps, and the personal account of the 12 year old that they can relate to. ( )

Well-researched, but rather dry. I listened to the audio recording of this title and it was fine, but not especially captivating. ( )

This was a very informative book about the fire of 1871 that left almost 100,000 people homeless and killed many others. The author takes the reader from minutes before the fire started to the rebuilding of the city. He set straight some nasty myths that most people believe about the cause of the fire. I think the best part of the book is that there are personal accounts scattered through the pages, which makes it seem more real.

A vertible cinematic account of the catastrophe that decimated much of Chicago in 1871, forcing more than 100,000 people from their homes. Jim Murphy tells the story through the eyes of several survivors. These characters serve as dramatic focal points as the fire sweeps across the city, their stories illuminated by fascinating archival photos and maps outlining the spread of fire. 1996 Newbery Honor Book.

I hardly knew anything about the Chicago fire, so this book was a great resource of information. I really liked how Murphy focused on specific individuals' accounts of the fire and kept revisiting those people throughout the book. It was a great way to get a picture of what was going on in different places at the same time. I listened to the audiobook, which was well read, but I missed out on seeing all of the pictures from the actual book, which was disappointing. A solid nonfiction book. ( )