Killer Flood

by Jeff Gottesfeld

Dan and Pete are excited to have a sleepover at Dan s house while their parents are away. Their excitement turns to fear when the dam breaks and a killer flood smashes through town. The boys decide to stay put until they realize that Dan s elderly neighbors may be in danger. When they reach the neighbors house, they find one of them near death. His lifesaving medicine is under water, and his wife is too old to make her way to town to get more. Both boys brave the flood to go find help.
Hi-Lo Chapter Books for Children. This series of short novels was designed to engage a broad spectrum of struggling readers. No longer will upper-elementary students have to read material junior to their maturity and interests. Characters are age appropriate and come from diverse cultures and backgrounds. Science fiction, sports, paranormal, realistic life, historical fiction, and fantasy are just a few of the many genres. Books are no higher than a 1.5 reading level, with illustrations on every spread that support visual literacy and draw kids into the text."

64 pages, ebook

First published December 12, 2014

About the author

HONOR FLIGHT (Candlewick, March 3, 2026). So far, four starred reviews from PW, SLJ, Booklist, and Kirkus.

Too many of America's veterans have never had the means or opportunity to visit their monuments in Washington, DC. Nor did many of them, particularly from the Vietnam era, get the homecoming they deserved.

The Honor Flight program, begun by volunteers in 2005 on the most modest of scales, changed all of that. Today, the Honor Flight Network is massive, and has flown more than 300,000 vets on free trips to DC, each of them accompanied by a volunteer (and paying) Guardian.

I was a Guardian on such a flight in April, 2023. This book is about this remarkable effort, told first person in the voice of an unnamed veteran. That I could reunite for it with Matt Tavares, the illustrator of our TWENTY-ONE STEPS: GUARDING THE TOMB OF THE UNKNOWN SOLDIER (Candlewick, 2021). Well, as the last line of the book says, "It was an honor."

Reviews

[Cathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy reading. Boy-centric but, really, girls will get this book, too. Written as a Hi-Lo Chapter book with very short sentences, like-able characters Dan and Pete who kids will easily identify with and familiar neighbours like the old folks next door, the Lands who love Dan and his pal Pete.
Plot is simple: Dan's town lies in a valley and it tends to experience floods but nothing like what happens here, a dam breaks and the water level rises in no time to waist high and higher. Using his smarts, Dan drags a water terrified Pete to the flooded kitchen to find out where the meows are coming from; no worries, Fluffy is way up on top of the fridge. Next, they fight their way through cold water to the Lands where they find the couple upstairs, Mr. Land in dire need of his diabetic meds, dry ones, and now! Dan decides they must get to the main street and break into the drugstore if they have to, and they do using Mr. Land's rowboat, down the flooded main part of town! In the dark!
So many perilous things happen to the two boys. A nice cop and medics sort the boys out, contact their parents who are trapped in the city, a night out gone wrong and very wet, and Mr. Land is saved.
Using kid-centric language, a realistic everyday setting and something that could happen in many places: floods, high water, someone in need of help, the author creates a friendly reading adventure for the reluctant reader or a reader struggling to follow content, language, plot.
Dan and Pete learn valuable lessons all while just doing the right thing. Killer Flood is a winner.

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

So often, books written at this level are babyish or silly. This is truly not! Dan and Pete are in a very realistic situation, spending the night alone (under the supervision of elderly neighbors) when the local dam breaks and their homes are flooded. While Pete is terrified and might just shut down, Dan steps up and not only leads his friend to safety, but brings rescue for his neighbors as well. All using limited vocabulary and short sentences that emerging readers need!

[Allyson Goose · Rating 4 out of 5]

I give it 4 stars. I thought it was an interesting, accessible book with a good plot.

Review from a middle schooler below, who gave it 3 stars.
There were two kids and it was raining outside for a week. The dam broke and everything was flooded. They found their neighbor. Mr. land had diabetes so they needed medicine, and went out to get it. They got the medicine and came back. He was fine then a year later they celebrated.

It has been too short and I didn't like it that it was really easy to guess what will happen next so there were no surprises!