5:41, Spirit of Hope, Scars top Amazon non-fiction list for Joplin Tornado books

In 2011, in the days after the Joplin Tornado, I began reading Facebook posts from people who told their stories and I thought that a collection of those stories might make a good book. They were raw, emotional and for the most part, well-written.

That being said, I did not want the book to be just a collection of other people's writing. I wanted it to be a book that would tell the story of the tornado, including the roles played by the City of Joplin, the Joplin R-8 School District, the hospitals, the university, and the volunteers who came to this city from all over the U. S. and the world.

I contacted Carthage Press Managing Editor John Hacker and asked if he would be interested in working on the book with me. John was covering the tornado for the Press and for a long time he has been the best reporter in the area when it comes to spot news and weather-related stories. He had also worked for me three times during and after his college days at Missouri Southern and we had always worked well together.

Once John was on board, I began collecting the stories, which included a series of articles I had written for Huffington Post and Daily Kos, John's coverage of events involving the destroyed St. John's, Freeman and McCune-Brooks hospitals, as well as his original reporting on other aspects of the tornado.

I covered events that concerned the school district, as well as stories about things that had occurred during the tornado, and the funeral of Joplin High School graduate Will Norton.

I also began a search for documents and transcripts that could serve as a historical reference for future generations and 5:41: Stories from the Joplin Tornado included the first National Weather Service report on the tornado, the transcripts of the speeches made by President Obama, Gov. Jay Nixon and Rev. Aaron Brown at the memorial service one week after the tornado.

Most importantly, we determined that the book would include the obituaries of every person who died as a result of the worst tornado that hit the United States in six decades.

5:41 was published in August 2011, just three months after the tornado.

In the months after the book, John kept telling me people were saying we should do a sequel to 5:41, telling the remarkable story of Joplin's recovery.

I was not too excited about the idea, but I had another book project I wanted to do- I was teaching eighth grade English at East Middle School at the time and I wanted to offer my students the chance to tell their stories about the tornado and about being forced to attend school in a warehouse on the outskirts of the district. I decided to do the sequel in the hope of raising enough money that every student and staff member could receive a free copy of that book.

John and I determined that the second book would cover everything from the tornado through the one-year anniversary and would feature much more original reporting. It would also include first-person stories that I received after the deadline for 5:41 passed.

And there would be more historical documents.

John was a fixture at Joplin Tornado-related events for that year, so the sequel included his coverage of the opening of Mercy Hospital's interim facility, the six-month anniversary observance at Cunningham Park, the Joplin High School Prom, and the Unity Walk on May 22, 2012.

I handled the school-related stories, including the first day of school, the Joplin High School Graduation, the passage of the $62 million bond issue to replace buildings that were lost in the tornado,

The book also included essays John and I wrote and some powerful articles by journalists such as Carthage Press Sports Editor Brennan Stebbins, who told the story of being in a Joplin Fastrip store when it was hit by the tornado, former Joplin Business Journal Editor Jeff Wells, whose mother and grandmother's homes were destroyed by the storm, and former Baxter Springs Citizen Editor Rick Nichols' harrowing tale of being in the Pancake Hut as it was hit by the tornado.

Once again, the documents and transcripts were included to make the book a reference for future historians.

Among those documents:

-The transcript of Gov. Nixon's speech to the Missouri Association of Broadcasters praising the role of KZRG and Zimmer Radio

-The transcript of Mark Rohr's "miracle of the human spirit" speech

-The transcript of Rush Limbaugh's July 4 speech in Joplin

-The transcript of Superintendent C. J. Huff's speech on the day Joplin faculty and staff returned for the 2011-2012 school year

-A transcript of the sermon given by Bill Pape when the congregation of the destroyed Peace Lutheran Church had services at the church parking lot June 5, 2011

-A transcript of the sermon given by Kathy Redpath May 20, 2012 at Peace Lutheran

--Transcripts of the speeches given by President Obama and Gov. Nixon at the Joplin High School Graduation

-The Center for Disease Control report on fungal infection from the Joplin Tornado

-The final National Weather Service assessment of the tornado

Spirit of Hope was published in September 2012 and was followed by Scars from the Tornado in March 2013.

At that point, I really had no plans of ever doing any more books on the Joplin Tornado, but the problems surrounding the official recovery led to my 2015 book Silver Lining in a Funnel Cloud, Greed, Corruption and the Joplin Tornado, the first and so far only investigative work on the tornado.

Silver Lining provided a look at the city and the school's response to the tornado with major characters involved including Mark Rohr, C. J. Huff, former Joplin Mayor and City Councilman Mike Woolston, Assistant Superintendent Angie Besendorfer and of course, Texas con artist David Wallace of Wallace Bajjali.

The most recent of these Joplin Tornado books was published almost three years ago and 5:41 was almost seven years ago, so it has been rewarding to see that people are still interested in the books.

And that gets me to the what this post is about. It has been quite a while since I took a look at the Amazon ratings for all of the non-fiction and fiction books about the Joplin Tornado.

When I checked this morning, I was surprised to see that 5:41, Spirit of Hope and Scars from the Tornado ranked number one, two and three on the Amazon list and Silver Lining in a Funnel Cloud was ranked fifth.

5:41, Spirit of Hope and Scars were the only Joplin Tornado books in the top million of the Amazon ratings this morning.

Topping the fiction list and the number one seller among all Joplin Tornado books is Lauren Tarshis' I Survived the Joplin Tornado, a book written for children age 7-10, according to its Amazon page.

Thanks for your continued support of 5:41, Spirit of Hope, Scars and Silver Lining.

The Amazon rankings of Joplin Tornado books, as of 9 a.m. today are listed below:

NON-FICTION

1. 5:41: Stories from the Joplin Tornado- Randy Turner, John Hacker  94,700
2. Spirit of Hope: The Year After the Joplin Tornado- Randy Turner, John Hacker 256,205
3. Scars from the Tornado: One Year at Joplin East Middle School- Randy Turner 256,327
4. Joplin 5:41- Kansas City Star 1,205,064
5. Silver Lining in a Funnel Cloud: Greed, Corruption and the Joplin Tornado- Randy Turner 1,327,172
6. Lily: A True Story of Courage and the Joplin Tornado- 1,373,921
7. 32 Minutes in May- Joplin Globe 1,413,056
8. When the Sirens Were Silent- Mike Smith 2,511,376
9. Miracle of the Human Spirit- Mark Rohr 2,745,786
10. Hindsight: Lessons Learned from the Joplin Tornado- Zac Rantz, Stephen Kleinsmith 2,909,708
11. Tornado Warning- Tamara Hart Heiner  3,095,134
12. Singing Over Me: A Joplin Tornado Survivor's Journey- Danielle Stammer 3,225,395
13. Shatterproof- Katrina Hoover 3,388,504
14. Using Social Media in Disaster Recovery- David Burton, Genevieve Williams, Rebecca Williams 3,628,159
15. Joplin Pays It Forward- Jane Cage 4,149,219
16. Joplin Tornado Survival Stories- Emily O'Keefe 4,701,083
17. 5/22: Stories of Survival, Stories of Faith- Scott Hettinger 4,946,975
18. Joplin Missouri Tornado of May 22, 2011- David O. Prevatt 5,770,199
19. Joplin Tornado House of Hope- Tim Bartow 7,364,236
20. 20th and Rangeline Joplin Missouri- Thomas Meisinger 8,760,314
21. Surviving the Joplin Tornado: An Event That Changed My Life Forever- Donna Garlach 9,387,676
22. Mayday in Joplin- Donald Clugston 11,692,163

FICTION

1. I Survived the Joplin Tornado- Lauren Tarshis 1,682
2. Simple Pleasures- Kenna White 1,177,312
3. When the Storm Passes- Julie Jett 3,168,528
4. Butterflies at the Window- Sandi McReynolds 3,413,448
5. Standpipes and Storm Shelters- Sandi McReynolds 3,776,707
6. Tales of the Soul: Joplin May 22-  L. E. Stark
7. Out of the Wind- D. Ed Hoggatt- 5,379,726

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Copies of 5:41, Spirit of Hope, Scars from the Tornado and Silver Lining in a Funnel Cloud are available at Always Buying Books and Changing Hands Book Shoppe in Joplin and Pat's Books in Carthage. 5:41 and Silver Lining are available at the Book Guy in Joplin.

The books can also be purchased from Amazon at the links below: