Pripyat: The Chernobyl Ghost Town

Abandoned Places

by Lisa Owings

Most people in Pripyat never expected the day to come when theyd have to flee for their lives. The Soviet Union boasted about the safety of the nuclear city. But in 1986, one of the towns nuclear reactors exploded and released deadly radiation. This title explains the Chernobyl accident for curious readers.

Genres: Childrens, Nonfiction

24 pages, Library Binding

Published August 1, 2017

Reviews

[Heather Brown · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is not worth the money. It is written at a 2nd grade level and is VERY short-minimalist to the point of seeming unfinished. One page has a black & white photo of 2 girls and the sentences, "Mostly young people lived and worked in Pripyat. The average age was 26. Many of the townspeople had young children." This is the extent of the info on the residents of the town. I'm not impressed. I know it only gives them 24 pages to work with(3 of which are glossary, learn more & index), but each page is startlingly lacking and lackluster. Don't waste $20 of your Library Budget on it.

[Kristin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I saw a 5th grade teacher post about this book and thought it was an informational chapter book but it is really an early reader of just 24 pages. It has lots of engaging photos and interesting facts complete with a glossary, timeline, photo captions as you would expect from a non-fiction text. However, as someone who works with middle school students, this would be too basic of a text. It would work well as a read aloud due to its length or with developing readers as it is high interest, low readability.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first exposure to the Torque series by Scholastic. Definitely going to investigate the other Abandoned Places books in the series to see if this is something I would want to add to our collection. Seems like a great series to spark further investigation for kids 3rd-5th grade.

[Jason Medina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am very fascinated with the Chernobyl disaster and how it affected the newly formed city of Pripyat. This book is a quick way for young readers to learn about what happened without too much of the gritty details. Very nice photos help tell the story.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Somwhat informative. Good pictures.

[Leonard · Rating 4 out of 5]

This a 24 page book for children about the town abandoned because of a nuclear disaster. There are a lot of quality photos, and the reader is left with the strange feeling that one gets from looking at a place where thousands people used to live and then, had to leave with only a few hours notice, and the things they left behind. We have to wonder,"Could this happen to my town?"

This book is part of a series of "Abandoned Places"and i'm curious about the other titles in this series.