Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Quake!
    Quake!
    Quake!
    Ebook118 pages1 hour

    Quake!

    By Joe Cottonwood

    3.5/5

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    "While their parents attend a World Series game in San Francisco, Franny, 14, and her once-best friend Jennie, now a tattooed stranger wearing headphones, are babysitting her bratty brother Sidney. Clearly, getting reacquainted with Jennie, who moved away when her parents divorced years before, will be a disaster. But when the ground starts shaking their Loma Prieta home, Franny and her brother are plunged into a real crisis situation. In a flash, blood-and-gore loving Sidney becomes a terrified little boy. Jennie sheds her flaky facade to display competent first-aid skills and Franny finds herself calmly able to follow the preparation instructions drilled into her over the years. The hours and days after the quake are a time in which the children and their neighbors fumble toward survival, showing themselves to be 'the best kind of hero...an everyday sort.' With unsettling realism, Franny describes the aftershocks, the struggle to rebuild homes and lives, the triumphs of restoring basic services, and the steps she and her family take to re-establish their lives. Cottonwood spins his tale with great immediacy and power. Characters and relationships are multidimensional and convincing. Readers who enjoy survival and disaster stories will find this one inspiring and thought-provoking."—School Library Journal

    "Based on California's 1989 earthquake, this survival story fleshes out the newspaper headlines in fascinating detail. Cottonwood, himself a survivor of the earthquake, chronicles the nightmarish ordeal through the eyes of 14-year-old Fran. While her parents attend the World Series, Fran stays home with her bratty brother, Sidney, and Jennie, a visiting friend. Their reunion is awkward until the earthquake shakes them into action: they lift a Volkswagen off a neighbor, turn off combustible propane tanks, and help at the school emergency shelter. The experience builds bridges between the trio and offers Fran the bittersweet challenge of being in charge until her parents return safely home. There are surreal details--'when the water heater fell out [of the closet] . . . for a weird moment it looked like a mummy falling out of a coffin' --and the triviality of a 'Go Cheetahs' sign at Fran's school mark the shift in perspective that accompanies a major seismic shift. Grippingly told, this story will add depth to any study of earthquakes."—Booklist

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherJoe Cottonwood
    Release dateOct 5, 2012
    ISBN9781301978823
    Quake!
    Author

    Joe Cottonwood

    Joe Cottonwood was born in 1947, bent his first nail in 1952, and wrote his first story in 1956. He's been a writer and a carpenter ever since.

    Read more from Joe Cottonwood

    Related to Quake!

    Related ebooks

    Children's Action & Adventure For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      The Letter Box

      Nov 1, 2022

      Hello, Everybuggy, I’m a first-time writer to the Letterbox, but I’ve been reading Cricket for about two years now. I am absolutely obsessed with books, and my favorite series are Keeper of the Lost Cities, Wings of Fire, Michael Vey, The Lunar Chron

      7 min read

    • Article

      Whoa! How Embarrassing!

      Aug 8, 2019

      It was my school’s sports car nival day and I was about to run the r elay race. I was standing at the start line waiting for the race to begin and I was daydr eaming. I thought I hear d the starter so I started sprinting as fast as I could. Suddenly

      3 min read

    • Article

      Yo COLLECTA

      Apr 9, 2023

      Yo COLLECTA
      1 min read

    • Article

      Editor

      Oct 7, 2021

      Hey KRASH Heads, Ash here. Welcome to our awesome November issue! We’re almost out of lockdown in most parts of Australia and NZ, so we hope it was OK for you and that KRASH kept you entertained! This issue we give away some cool Free Guy Blu-rays, H

      1 min read

    • Article

      Worst Road Trip Ever

      May 9, 2021

      Worst Road Trip Ever
      1 min read

    • Article

      Doodlebug & Dandelion Sushi Dragon

      Sep 1, 2021

      Doodlebug & Dandelion Sushi Dragon
      3 min read

    • Article

      19 Magic Kingdom

      Sep 13, 2017

      19 Magic Kingdom
      6 min read

    • Article

      Totally EMBARRASSING

      Feb 14, 2021

      We were setting up for my birthday party and my mum tied a banner to the fairy floss machine. When I was bringing the party food in, I tripped and fell over - bringing the fairy floss machine and the banners down with me! This also brought down the m

      2 min read

    • Article

      Totally EMBARRASSING

      Feb 13, 2022

      Totally EMBARRASSING
      2 min read

    • Article

      The Addams Family 2

      Sep 30, 2021

      The Addams Family 2
      1 min read

    • Article

      Mariam Finds Her Wings

      Mar 1, 2020

      Mariam Finds Her Wings
      7 min read

    • Article

      Green Tree Python

      Feb 20, 2020

      Green Tree Python
      1 min read

    • Article

      In Search Of . . .

      Jan 1, 2019

      In Search Of . . .
      7 min read

    • Article

      The Trials Of Patroclus And Pelos

      Sep 1, 2022

      The Trials Of Patroclus And Pelos
      8 min read

    • Article

      Marco

      Mar 1, 2022

      THE ALLEY STANK . Marco could feel the damp soaking into his tunic as he pressed his back against the wall, trying to seem like part of the shadows. He cursed himself. How could he have been so stupid? He knew if he stayed out after dark they might f

      6 min read

    • Article

      Extra EMBARRASSING

      Apr 11, 2021

      Once, I was out on a farm and these goats came up behind me and started eating my pants. It was so embarrassing, I thought they were going to chew them off! Worst of all, my crush was there with me! OMTG! Frankie It was school picture day and I aske

      3 min read

    • Article

      Pranks

      May 6, 2021

      THE SET UP: At your next sleepover, wait until everyone is having dinner and excuse yourself to go to the bathroom. Instead, sneak into the room where you’ll all be sleeping, crush up some crackers and put the crumbs inside your buds’ sleeping bags.

      2 min read

    • Article

      Till We Meet Again

      Aug 25, 2023

      Till We Meet Again
      5 min read

    • Article

      Dream Girl

      Jan 1, 2020

      Dream Girl
      11 min read

    • Article

      Mirror Mirror On The Wall

      Oct 5, 2023

      Mirror Mirror On The Wall
      10 min read

    • Article

      A Corner Booth

      Nov 22, 2019

      A Corner Booth
      4 min read

    • Article

      Look Back in LAUGHTER

      May 1, 2024

      Look Back in LAUGHTER
      6 min read

    • Article

      My First Pet

      Feb 2, 2020

      My First Pet
      9 min read

    • Article

      The Ones We Sent Away

      Aug 7, 2023

      The Ones We Sent Away
      47 min read

    • Article

      Slither Off!

      Jul 9, 2019

      Jon Freeman, 38, from Leamington Spa When my mate’s mate Dean* was chucked out by his missus, I agreed to let him come and kip on my floor for a few nights while he found somewhere new to live. But two weeks grew to a month and three months later

      2 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Quake!

    3.5/5

    15 ratings1 review

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 3/5
      Booklist (May 1, 1995)Gr. 5-8. Based on California's 1989 earthquake, this survival story fleshes out the newspaper headlines in fascinating detail. Cottonwood, himself a survivor of the earthquake, chronicles the nightmarish ordeal through the eyes of 14-year-old Fran. While her parents attend the World Series, Fran stays home with her bratty brother, Sidney, and Jennie, a visiting friend. Their reunion is awkward until the earthquake shakes them into action: they lift a Volkswagen off a neighbor, turn off combustible propane tanks, and help at the school emergency shelter. The experience builds bridges between the trio and offers Fran the bittersweet challenge of being in charge until her parents return safely home. There are surreal details--' when the water heater fell out [of the closet] . . . for a weird moment it looked like a mummy falling out of a coffin' --and the triviality of a 'Go Cheetahs' sign at Fran's school mark the shift in perspective that accompanies a major seismic shift. Grippingly told, this story will add depth to any study of earthquakes. --Julie Yates Walton

    Book preview

    Quake! - Joe Cottonwood

    Quake!

    a novel by Joe Cottonwood.

    Smashwords edition Copyright © 2012 by Joe Cottonwood

    Previously published in 1995 by Scholastic, Inc.

    Cover image modified from a photo by J.K. Nakata of the United States Geological Survey, public domain, taken of a cabin in the Santa Cruz Mountains after the 1989 quake.

    Bicycles in Santa Cruz after the quake, photo by C. E. Meyer of the United States Geological Survey, public domain.

    This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

    Tuesday, October 17, 1989

    I hadn’t seen Jennie for five years. We used to live side by side in San Jose. I remember how she used to trap mice in a cage — in secret, because her father was trying to exterminate them —and give them birthday parties. She would bake chocolate cupcakes, and I’d bring a crumb of bacon wrapped in tissue as a present, and then she and I and the mouse would devour the goodies. After the party, she’d release the mouse in her backyard. I’m sure it moved right back into her house, hoping to be caught again.

    When I got a squirmy little golden retriever pup, Jennie baked chocolate chip cookies and fed them, one by one, to the puppy, who ate until his belly bulged out and then fell asleep on Jennie’s foot, occasionally giving off contented little chocolate burps. From then on, that dog was ready to be Jennie’s friend for life. So was I.

    Jennie in my memory was a chunky, pixie-haired, animal-loving, happy-go-lucky chocoholic.

    Now we were fourteen years old.

    The moment she stepped out of the car, I saw a different Jennie: long hair gathered in a purple scrunchee, purple eye shadow that looked like a bruise, a purple shirt tied to reveal a purple tattoo of a guitar on her belly — on second glance, not a real tattoo but the press-on kind. She was wearing headphones.

    Hi, Franny.

    Hi, Jennie.

    We hugged. It was a leaning forward, lightly touching hug. When my head was next to hers, I could hear music in her headphones.

    "God, you’ve like totally changed!" she said.

    "I’ve changed? You look so — "

    "Your hair’s like red."

    Jennie, it’s always been red.

    I thought it was brown.

    How could she forget the color of my hair?

    We’d been best friends all our lives — until our world cracked apart. Jennie’s parents had divorced, and Jennie had moved with her mother to Pomona. Then I moved with my family to the mountains — to Loma Prieta, halfway between San Jose and Santa Cruz — to an old shoe of a cabin where I had to share a room with my brother.

    We’d tried writing letters, but they came less and less often. Jennie’s last letter almost two years ago had said:

    I think of our life together in San Jose as a time when everything was simple and happy. I thought it would last forever. Now I know that nothing is simple. And nothing lasts forever.

    This was a new Jennie. I didn’t know how to talk to her. My eyes fell to the tattoo on her belly. Inside the guitar were the letters BIG UGLY.

    What’s Big Ugly? I asked.

    Jennie looked at me with surprise. But she didn’t say anything.

    Louder, I said, What — or who — is Big Ugly?

    Without a word, Jennie handed me the headphones. The wire stretched from her waist.

    I listened to a sound like somebody stomping on watermelons. And a voice that was a raw shout.

    I handed back the headphones and asked, Is Big Ugly a person? Or a band?

    Franny… Her voice was a whine. Haven’t you seen them on TV?

    No. I can’t.

    Suddenly Jennie looked worried. Don’t you get — like — cable? MTV?

    I think so. But … you see … we don’t have a television.

    Now Jennie looked sick.

    Are you all right?

    "What are we going to do?" Jennie wailed.

    I’d thought we might talk. Catch up on our lives. Reminisce. Maybe catch mice.

    People change, I told myself. Lives change. Kids grow. Parents divorce. Families move. Nothing is permanent. Maybe that was why in school I was feeling more and more drawn to science, where the laws don’t change. Earth is earth. Rock is rock.

    As I was standing awkwardly outside with Jennie, wondering what to say, Lara came out of the house, barking. Lara was the squirmy golden retriever puppy who Jennie had befriended with chocolate chip cookies, years ago. Now Lara was a ninety-pound dog, lazy as a shaggy golden boulder, but she had bestirred herself to come out and woof at this stranger.

    Is that Lara? Jennie asked. "She’s totally huge. Why is she barking? Doesn’t she recognize me?"

    Lara definitely did not recognize her. I’m not sure I would have recognized Jennie, either, if I hadn’t been expecting her.

    Lara! It’s me! Like — remember?

    Woof woof.

    Jennie unzipped a pocket of her overnight bag and pulled out a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup. Lara stopped barking and sat. Her tail wagged back and forth in the dust like a hairy broom. Jennie unwrapped the Reese’s and held it out.

    Delicately, with her front teeth, Lara removed the peanut butter cup from Jennie’s fingers. Then — gulp — it was gone. And once again, Lara was Jennie’s friend for life.

    I was relieved. Here, at least, was one part of Jennie that hadn’t changed. I hoped we had some chocolate in the kitchen. Maybe if I gave some to Jennie, she’d be my friend for life again, too.

    My father had gone into the house. Now he returned to the car. Got to run, he said. Wish me luck. Go, Giants! With a spray of gravel, he launched out of the driveway.

    My father was a diehard Giants fan. So was Jennie’s mom. And that was why Jennie and I were finally back together again for a couple of nights: The Giants were in the World Series. My father and mother plus Jennie’s mother were all going to the game at Candlestick Park. Jennie and her mom had flown up from Pomona. My mom took Jennie’s mom to a restaurant while my dad drove Jennie to our house. Jennie would stay with me and help to baby-sit for my little brother, Sidney until our parents got home, which with ballpark traffic would be very late at night.

    As my father drove away, Sidney came out of the house.

    Is that — like — little Sidney? Jennie exclaimed. When she’d last seen him, he was two years old.

    What’s that on your stomach? Sidney asked.

    Tattoo.

    It looks like a bullet hole.

    Sidney is living proof of genetic mutation. There’s no other explanation for how he and I could come from the same parents. Sidney was the reason that my father gave our perfectly good nineteen-inch Sony Trinitron to the Salvation Army.

    Sidney liked cop shows and war movies (though he wasn’t allowed to watch them). Sidney played violent video games (in other kids’ houses). Sidney kept asking my dad to take him to a junkyard so he could see all the smashed cars. Sidney said that his second-grade teacher was made of reconstructed liposuction. She was a sweet old lady who happened to be obese. Sidney called her Mrs. Lipo.

    Sidney was precocious, but he gave me the creeps. Sometimes in the middle of the night, I saw Sidney get up and watch forbidden, bloody TV shows with the sound turned off. It seemed to relax him — like a mug of warm milk.

    One night a couple of months ago, my dad caught him.

    My dad was a medic in Vietnam. He tried to make Sidney understand that blood and gore were real, that it happened to real people, that it was horrible. He told Sidney about a man who had his right arm blown off, who picked it up with his

    Enjoying the preview?
    Page 1 of 1