This is not an ordinary book: it's a BookCrossing book! BookCrossing books are world travelers - they like to have adventures and make new friends...and with your help, they can even write home to say what they've been doing! (You may remain anonymous if you wish.)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Oversized hardcover with dust jacket; a history for younger readers, so it has lots of illustrations!

A look at the 1871 Chicago fire based on eyewitness accounts.

1996 Newbery Honor book.

I'm counting this as my Illinois read for the 2022 version of NancyNova's states challenge.

Tuesday, March 22, 2022: heading out in the 2021-2022 round of 6of8's Biographies of Things bookbox in honor of MaryZee.

Released for GoryDetails's 4 Elements challenge and JessicaEby's Newbery Challenge.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Thanks for finding this book! Won't you please make a journal entry and let its previous readers know how & where you found it? What do you think of it? What will you do with it when you're done?

This is now your book, and you may do as you please with it: keep it as long as you wish, share it with a friend, or leave it where someone else can find it!

Have you ever wondered where your books go after they leave your hands? Join BookCrossing and you'll be able to follow them as new readers make journal entries - sometimes from surprisingly far-flung locations.

BookCrossing: making the whole world a library!

Finally ready to start another round of the Biographies of Things book box, which means I have to realize that I never catalogued the ones that were in the box when it returned to me. This one is good for another round.

This book is now part of the Biographies of Things book box and is off to tour the country. Hopefully along the way it finds an interested reader and a new home.

Any future reader or recipient of this book is encouraged to leave a journal entry here on the BookCrossing site to let prior readers know the fate of the book. You can make an anonymous entry without joining the BookCrossing movement, but if you are interested in joining, it is a free and spam-free community where your contact information is not shared with others. Best of all, members receive private messages via e-mail from books like this one when those books are journaled, allowing for long-term relationships between books and readers.

I'm claiming this one from the latest round of the Biographies of Things bookbox.

Later: I've read a lot about the fire from other sources (including several listed in this book's bibliography), and found this one a surprisingly in-depth look at the tragedy and its aftermath, despite its focus on younger readers. Historic photos and newspaper-illustrations enhance the narrative.

There's a snowstorm rolling in, so I darted around to several LFLs in Massachusetts and New Hampshire to drop off some books. Hope someone enjoys this one!

[See other recent releases in MA here.]

** Released for the 2023 4 Elements challenge. **

** Released for the 2023 Keep Them Moving challenge. **