On July 24, 1915, the SS Eastland, filled to capacity with 2,500 aboard, capsized in the Chicago River while still moored to the pier. The disaster took more passenger lives than the Titanic and stands today as the greatest loss of life on the Great Lakes. Capsized! Details the events leading up to the fateful day of the disaster and provides a nail-biting, minute-by-minute account of the ship's capsizing. Kids follow the lives of workers and their families, mostly first- and second-generation Polish and Czech immigrants employed by Chicago's largest manufacturer, Western Electric's Hawthorne Works. From the courage of the survivors to the despair of families who lost loved ones, Capsized! Brings the stories of ordinary working people enduring the unthinkable to light. It also raises critical-thinking questions for young readers: Why do we know so much about Titanic's sinking and yet so little about the Eastland disaster? What causes a tragedy to be forgotten and left out of society's collective memory? Why was no one ever held responsible for this catastrophe? What lessons from this disaster might we be able to apply today?
