Danger at Sand Cave

On My Own History

by Candice F. Ransom, Den Schofield (Illustrator)

When Arly's friend Floyd Collins is trapped by falling rocks in Sand Cave, Arly rushes to help. Arly runs errands for the workers, but he feels that he should be doing more. It is a race against time, so Arly decides to try to make his way through the collapsed cave to help his friend--but he ends up in danger himself.

Genres: Historical Fiction

48 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

See also Candice Ransom

Ransom has published more than 150 books for children, and she is amazed every day that she's able to do this as her life's work. It's no small thing to discover at an early age (ten!) what one is meant to do, and then pursue that dream. For her, the best part of writing for children is that she can move between writing board books, picture books, easy readers, chapter books, middle grade novels, nonfiction, and biography. She is excited to move into picture book nonfiction with BONES IN THE WHITE HOUSE: THOMAS JEFFERSON'S MAMMOTH (Doubleday, 2020).

AMANDA PANDA QUITS KINDERGARTEN and the sequel AMANDA PANDA AND THE BIGGER, BETTER BIRTHDAY (Doubleday) are her first picture books with animal characters! She is proud of her easy readers featuring a brother and sister having fun throughout the year: PUMPKIN DAY, APPLE PICKING DAY, SNOW DAY, and GARDEN DAY. Look for more titles in this Level 1 series written in bouncy rhyme, plus the popular TOOTH FAIRY'S NIGHT (all Random House).

Reviews

[Lisa]

The person who was trapped in Sand Cave is a real person but the main character in this story is fictional. The person trapped did not practice safe caving and the outcome of this short retelling is depressing. It doesn’t really teach the reader to practice safety as the fictional 10 yr old also enters a dangerous cave alone without proper precautions in his desire to be a hero. The story fell flat for me.

[Audrey]

This is a fictionalized story of Floyd Collins who was trapped underground for days and the desperate attempt to rescue him.

[Bree DeLaMare]

This story is based on a true event that occurred back in 1925 as a man by the name of Floyd Collins became trapped in a sand cavern. This book, though based on a true event, stands as historical fiction as a young, fictional boy tries to find his way into the cavern to help free his friend, Floyd from the trapped rocks.