The Donner Party

Graphic Library Disasters in History

by Scott R. Welvaert, Charles Barnett III (Illustrator), Ron Frenz (Illustrator)

Tells the story of the Donner Party's struggle to reach California despite harsh weather and starvation. Written in graphic novel format.

Genres: History, Graphic Novels, School

32 pages, Library Binding

First published August 1, 2006

Reviews

[Victoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this while reorganizing the school library. My middle schooler's love graphic novels, and this is a topic that they really get obsessed with once they hear about it, so I had to read it myself to see what the hype was about. I found it quite interesting, handling a not-often-approached topic in a capacity that kids can understand was really nice.

[StrictlySequential · Rating 2 out of 5]

Narrative could have been so much better. There is plenty of room in this format to present the whole story clearly.

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a rare thing to talk about cannibalism in a children's book. But it's handled well. Very interesting story. I can't wait to read the grown-up version.

[Citri · Rating 2 out of 5]

Short but interesting comic style book about the Donner party journey and tragedy. Honestly I was surprised to learn something new from this book: the snow pit was much bigger than I had imagined.

[Kara Danielsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Plot summary:
The Donner party, a group of 87 people and 23 wagons followed a trail to California from Missouri. They faced decisions on cutoffs to California that ended up being mistakes and made them take too long in the mountains which caused them to get stuck in a blizzard. They did not have food and 41 starved to death with the others eating their flesh and making it til the rescue parties arrived.

Main characters and description:
Tamsen Donner was asked to be rescued twice but turned down the invitation to stay with her dying husband. She ended up starving to death but she had a huge heart for her husband to stay with him and then not eat him when he died like the others had.

Key Issues:
emigrants, relief party, cannibals, geography

Other interesting information:
www.facthounds.com is an interesting website to correspond with this book as well as many other children's nonfiction books!

[Sandy Brehl · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a graphic-story approach to retelling of the history of the Donner Party. It is one of multiple titles by Capstone Press aimed at making history accessible while accurate. It is vetted by history/library experts and includes direct quotations from primary sources sited on the credits pages. Back matter includes additional text-only bulleted notes, glossary, internet sites, bibliography, index, and suggested further readings.

[C.G.Koens · Rating 1 out of 5]

This gets one star... purely for the fact that it is, in no way, an appropriate story for kids, and making it a graphic novel doesn't help. This was a sad and tragic historical event, not to mention gruesome. I wouldn't have purchased it on it's own, but it came as part of the set...and I'm not keeping it. If the kids want to know about it, we can find a basic review of what happened online and skip making it seem "fun."