Thursday, June 11, 2015

Children's title tops Amazon Joplin Tornado book rankings

A book that has not yet been published is atop the Amazon rankings of Joplin Tornado books.

I Survived the Joplin Tornado, the latest in the New York Times I Survived series for readers aged 7 to 10, will not be published until August 25, but it has zoomed up to number 6,977 among more than eight million books ranked on Amazon.

The Scholastic book, which is written by Lauren Tarshis, is described in this way on its Amazon page:

The next book in the New York Times bestselling I Survived series will place readers right in the middle of the deadly Joplin Tornado of 2011.

The 2011 Joplin tornado was a catastrophic tornado that struck Joplin, Missouri in 2011. It was part of a larger tornado outbreak in the spring of that year and reached a maximum width of nearly 1 mile during its path through the southern part of the city, killing 158 people, injuring over 1,000 and caused damages amounting to a total of $2.8 billion, making it the costliest single tornado in U.S. history. Lauren will bring her signature intensity to this distinctly American natural disaster, placing a young boy in the middle of one of the deadliest tornadoes to strike the United States since 1947.

The number two book, my Silver Lining in a Funnel Cloud, has only been available for three days and is ranked at number 37,631.

This week's Top 10:

1. I Survived the Joplin Tornado, Lauren Tarshis 6,972
2. Silver Lining in a Funnel Cloud, Randy Turner 37,631
3. Scars from the Tornado: One Year at East Middle School, Randy Turner 106,574
4. Lily: A True Story of Courage and the Joplin Tornado 557,266
5. Joplin 5:41, Kansas City Star 601,493
6. 5:41: Stories from the Joplin Tornado Randy Turner and John Hacker 845,144
7. Life After the Storm Debbie Fleitman 1,048,732
8. Miracle of the Human Spirit Mark Rohr 1,104,276
9. 32 Days in May Joplin Globe 1,250,211
10. When the Sirens Were Silent Mike Smith 1,511,709
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6 comments:

Anonymous said...

And the proceeds from these books sold go to local charities?

Anonymous said...

Why would the proceeds go to local charities?

Randy said...

I have no idea about the other books, but I make my living through my writing and I put a considerable amount of time and effort into my work. I spend my money locally, I pay taxes, and I provide a service with my writing. I am sorry if that offends you.

Anonymous said...

Rohr said his would go to charity. Anyone know how much he has donated and to what charity?

Anonymous said...

Hmmm mixed feelings. Obviously it's human nature to be curious about these events and the way people cope, but there's kind of an ick factor about rehashing it in a children's book. And maybe it's even slightly disrespectful to the parents that did lose children in the tornado? I don't view Randy's book in that same light because its geared toward an adult audience and focuses more on how we've been taken advantage of after the fact.

Anonymous said...

This is a series of books that is very popular with elementary age students. The author does extensive research into each event that she writes about. She visited Joplin before she started writing the book. I can assure you it will be respectful to the people of Joplin, and a great addition to the series. The kids love the books anyways. Now they will identify with them even more.