A book about survival and hope, creativity and ingenuity, describes the August 2010 mine collapse in Chile that trapped thirty-three miners deep beneath the ground, and the sixty-nine-day effort to rescue them. Elaine Scott moves back and forth between events below ground, where the miners worked out systems for physical and emotional survival, with what was happening above. The rescue effort involved everyone from experts in digging and drilling to NASA scientists, who were consulted on everything from ways to keep the miners physically and psychologically healthy to the design of the rescue suit they wore in the Phoenix tube that eventually brought them to the surface. Meanwhile, in Camp Hope, the makeshift community of miners’ families, a school was established for children, a clown helped keep spirits up, a baby was born. Fascinating in every dimension, this account balances the drama and tension of the human story with the intriguing technical details. Scott discusses her research and sources in an author’s note. (Age 11 and older)

In August 2010, thirty-three miners were buried alive, two thousand feet below the
surface of the earth. After seventeen tense days, just as hope was nearly gone, rescuers
made contact with the men. Joy broke out around the world—all thirty-three men
were alive! But it would be long weeks before they emerged from the mine.
What did the miners feel, trapped in the steamy darkness so far underground?
What did they eat? How did they get along? And most important, how did they survive
in those seventeen days when death lingered so near, and after, during the long
wait for rescue?

 

This amazing true story about problem-solving, community, and real-life heroes is
made kid-friendly by veteran nonfiction writer Elaine Scott. It will inspire for years to
come.