I was hosting a party the other night and amongst my guests was a former editor of children’s literature. In the course of the evening she happened to notice that I had a copy of The Great Molasses Flood by Deborah Kops sitting on my shelf. She saw it and instantly gave a groan. Apparently there was a time there when it felt like every other children’s chapter book manuscript she received took place during that Boston tragedy. I admit I was surprised since before this book I hadn’t seen ANY that covered this event thoroughly, fictional or nonfictional. Indeed, until I read Kops’s book I wasn’t even sure about the logistics. How exactly does molasses go about flooding anyway? Maybe if I’d lived in Boston I’d have had an idea, but I’ve never set so much as a toe in that town. So it is that once again I rely on the good authors of informational books for kids to fill in my spotty knowledge with their wise words. The Great Molasses Flood answers every question a person might have about that infamous moment in history, and does so with compassion and accuracy (two qualities all authors, adult, children, teen, what have you, should strive to achieve).
January 15, 1919 was an unseasonably warm day. Forty-three degrees if you can believe it. And folks were just going about their workday as usual. Then, at 12:40 in the afternoon, the strangest thing occurred. The molasses tank, located next to Boston Harbor and the train yard, burst wide open. Instantly 2,319,525 gallons of molasses spilled onto the streets, lifting homes, destroying elevated train tracks, and ultimately killing 21 people and wounding countless others. A 40-foot wave of molasses makes a mark, and when all was said and done folks had to figure out who was to blame. Was it an act of terrorism (anarchists were in full swing so this wasn’t a crazy theory) or the fault of the tank? Whatever it was, it was an event that lasted long in the memories of those involved, even after the sticky sweet smell had faded.
Because I am a children’s librarian and I had a somewhat spotty education when it came to American history I tend to get most of my historical information from works intended for kids. Actually, I’m not alone in this. We used to have an old man in my children’s room that would come regularly to sit and read our history books because he liked how they laid out the facts. The same goes for me. So if I’m going to be honest with you, the first time I heard about The Great Molasses Flood was in Jennifer Armstrong’s The American Story: 100 True Tales from American History. That book’s a great collection of well-known and somewhat obscure tales from this nation’s past. All the stories are true but I had a hard time swallowing (forgive the pun) this molasses blarney. I mean, really? A big old WAVE of molasses came down the street? People died?!? Of molasses? I mean . . . what? It all makes slightly more sense when you hear that molasses was useful for making weapons and in a WWI era American that was why you’d have a tank of the stuff. Still . . .
6 Comments on Review of the Day: The Great Molasses Flood by Deborah Kops, last added: 2/29/2012
Ooh! One of my “favorite” tragedies of all time – and I have always been looking for a kids’ book about it! In fact, I have occasionally doubted my certainty that it happened at all. It does sound like something somebody might have made up for a novel, right? May Amelia Up to Her Neck in Syrup.
Also, I am always sure David McCullough wrote a book about it, and then I go pull it off the shelf and it turns out that was Johnstown… this is why I have a blog, because I can’t keep things straight in my brain.
ANYWAY. More disaster books for children YES.
Thanks so much, Betsy. Even as Bostonians, here at Charlesbridge many of us were surprised and enlightened by the facts in this book. Sure, we all know about the flood. They say you can still smell the molasses in the North End. But the conspiracies and controversies may not be well-known. If you ever do put a toe in Boston, you can stay on our couch and we’ll take you for a cannoli at Mike’s and a tour of the site in the North End!
Years ago I worked at a buy/sell used bookstore, and a book about this came through, which I still have. I’ll have to find this new book.
Despite growing up near Boston, I never knew about this until my son came home from school one day 3 or 4 years ago, brimming over with excitement to tell me about it! I’ll be getting him this book, for sure!
The molasses tank explosion is part of the plot in the middle-grade novel Joshua’s Song (2003), by Joan Hiatt Harlow. We’ve used it in fifth grade for literature circles in the past and the kids liked it. Or maybe they just liked the molasses cookies we made after reading. (Because some of them didn’t know what molasses was!)
I remembered a picture book about this.
Then I discovered that the December Booklist review says, “Fictionalized accounts of the molasses flood can be found in Joan Hiatt Harlow’s Joshua’s Song (2001) and Blair Lent’s picture book Molasses Flood (1992).”