What Was the Donner Party?

What was...?

by Ben Hubbard, Tim Foley (Illustrator), Who HQ

Learn about the treacherous journey across the Sierra Nevada mountain range that isolated and trapped a group of pioneers heading to California for an entire winter in this latest addition to the New York Times Bestselling What Was? series.

In the winter of 1846-47, a group of eighty-seven pioneers heading from the Midwest to California found themselves snowbound in the Sierra Nevada mountain range with no way forward and no food or supplies. While forty-eight of the group members survived, the others perished due to extreme weather, starvation, and illness. To survive, the remaining people resorted to extreme measures...including cannibalism. Learn about the many miscalculations, bad decisions, and extreme weather that led to the demise of nearly half of the Donner Party in this book for young readers about one of California's first major disasters.

Genres: Nonfiction, Childrens, History, Middle Grade, Historical, Survival

112 pages, Paperback

Published November 7, 2023

About the author

Ben Hubbard is an accomplished non-fiction author of books for children and adults. He has more than 160 titles to his name and has written on everything from Space, the Samurai and Sharks, to Poison, Pets and the Plantagenets. His books have been translated into more than a dozen languages and can be found in bookshops, libraries and schools around the world.

Reviews

[R.F. Gammon]

Wow this was INSANELY not tactful and just straight up said "hey kids! These people were stupid and made bad choices and then ate each other!" I don't know how you would go about writing this in a more tactful way, except to say that mayhap not every historical event needs a corresponding children's book

[Arc888 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was standing in the aisles of my library realizing that I didn't know anything about the Donner Party (apart from the obvious). I can't believe they wrote this for kids.

[MissSusie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this one interesting because this is a tough subject but I found that they did a really good job of telling this story without going too gruesome in the descriptions it was more just matter of fact which I thought was very well done.

Greg D. Bennett's narration was very good.

I will be adding this to my What was collection!


4 stars
I received this audiobook from the publisher PRHAudio for a fair and honest review.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Donner Party is a historical name I have known for a long time, along with its story of "they started out too late and, spoilers, cannibalism."

This was a great, readable, balanced review of the history.
My takeaways:
1) The Donner party did not set out too late; they set out with a larger group, but were perhaps a little casual in their pacing.

2) At two key points, they accepted guidance from a false guide (Hastings), from parties with personal gain interests (Jim Bridger), or from complete strangers with no skin in the game.

3) Two leading families in the Donner group were the Donner and Reed families. Both had had financial success in their lives in the East before going west. I wonder if that at all influenced people to follow them. It's so easy to conflate financial success with actual insight or wisdom.

4) Cannibalism to survive in extremity is something I find distatesful, but understandable. But according to this book, one group splintered off on its own hoping to find an early way through and get help. They took limited rations with them and resorted to cannibalism when someone died. They had two guides who did NOT partake of human flesh and then took off, fearing to be the next ones on the menu. They were hunted by a man in the group and then KILLED for the express purpose of being cannibalized. I still think that is murder.

I love this series; the stories are balanced, they give a good overview of the history of the person or event, they don't whitewash but neither do they denegrate. For those that want to read more, they provide a bibliography with age guidance in the back.

[Becky B · Rating 3 out of 5]

A history of the disastrous journey for the Donner family and many others that joined them in going from Illinois to California. The book details how a con man led them astray to an ill-advised (and somewhat impossible) route, they ignored warnings, they lost supplies, and they hit the mountains just as the snow hit hard.

I don't think I'd ever heard before that there was a guy gunning for California leadership led this group astray for his own personal reasons. I've read a couple other things on the Donner's but this was the first time that stood out. The timeline of the different groups going different routes is a little convoluted and a bit tricky to follow. But I'm not sure how to make it any easier to follow. I do think Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tale about the Donner Party was a little easier to follow so maybe read that first and then this.

Notes on content:
Language: None
Sexual content: None
Violence: There's a murder (possible others), people dying of exposure, and cannibalism. A boy broke his leg and is threatened with amputation (but avoided it).
Ethnic diversity: Mostly white Americans, some Native Americans (both who helped and who threatened them).
LGBTQ+ content: None specified.
Other: Greed and manipulation. Desperate times and what comes out of people during that.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

First sentence: In late October 1846, one last push was all that was needed. One last push for the men, women, and children to reach the mountain summit--its highest peak--and cross to the other side.

Premise/plot: This is a nonfiction chapter book about the Donner Party. The book summarizes this tragic historical event well. At least relatively well considering the audience. Briefly, for those not in the know, it is a wagon train adventure gone horribly wrong.

My thoughts: Why. Why does this book exist. I have read a couple of books about the Donner Party. One was middle grade. One was young adult. One was adult. I don't know why elementary students would need such a gruesome book. Not that I'm judgy. Perhaps the gruesomeness of it makes it appealing?

What you see is exactly what you get. It is a solid enough narrative that describes the events--what led to the tragedy, the tragedy itself, and the aftermath of the tragedy.

[Alicia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't think I've read something as approachable and focused-- but that's what the Who HQ books do. Either way, I feel like I know more about the overall goals of the FULL party of people who were traveling west, the decisions made (based on ego, shortcuts, and weather to name a few) and how the events unfolded based on those decisions.

But there was also great context from how slow oxen move compared to a horse, the type of wagons that were used, and survival.

I would absolutely recommend this one to get a good handle on how it all unfolded.

[Rob · Rating 3 out of 5]

WhoHQ has written some YA nonfiction on some strange subjects, always treating them objectively and with empathy where possible. I was eager to see how they would handle the Donner Party. Cannibalism does not come up until much later in the book, and it is not graphic. I'd like to think Billy the Pony got up after the humans were out of sight and lived a brilliant and fruitful life as a pharmacist in Utah.

[Viktoria Cox · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great book from Who HQ. The story was accurate to everything I have ever read about the Donner Party. In some areas there was more detail than generally found. For me, all of the names and camp locations get confusing. A group of maps (not even to scale, just sketches) would help keep track of people and rescue parties. All in all informative and enjoyable.

[Ruth E. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book. I like these books; they give you the facts without a lot of information that might be more than I want to know. And this could have been a lot more gruesome, though I admire their will to survive.

[Candace Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't believe I'm almost 29 and never knew this story beyond the name "The Donner Party." I read it to my students for history class, and it is quite fascinating and somewhat horrifying. 😳 I love simple-to-read books about history.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another great addition to this series.

[Tracy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Last book of faceoff weekend. 😴

[Krys · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars

[Bri Weas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Informative read!

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating story told in a palatable manner

[theresa]

James reed youre a king

[Lola]

The audio voice actor, Greg D. Barnett, was fantastic.

[Nora Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Donner and Dahmer….. coincidence? I think not.

[Emma]

CANNABALISM?? They ate people???

[James Biser · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good telling of the story of the Donner Party. It discloses the horror and the folklore that is so well-known. It shares factually what is so fearful.