BATTLE OF THE BOOKS
  • Home
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    • Other Words for Home
    • The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise
    • A Single Shard
    • Stepsister
    • They Called Us Enemy
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      • Monument 14
      • Never Say Die
      • Resistance
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    • KAIDEN KLEIN
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    • Kinley Christensen
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    • Kyper Vaughn
    • Kyrie Houghtelling
    • Kyson Bose
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    • Lauren Quinn
    • Layla Popple
    • Leah DeWald
    • Leanna Ellingson
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    • Logan Strolberg
    • Luke Lush
    • Lydia McGowen
    • Maddox Hartzog
    • Madi Trambly
    • Maggie Rawson
    • Mark Mahalek
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    • Mistica Martin
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    • Palmer Loberg
    • Payton Adams
    • Peyton Soucie
    • Pierce Hytrek
    • Porter Wohlgemuth
    • Regina Pena
    • Rihanna Botello
    • Ruby Edwards
    • Rylan Lush
    • Santiago Carrasco Aguirre
    • Sofia Alvarez
    • Sutton Strong
    • Trinity Kappes
    • Truman Fennel
    • Whitney Wall
    • Will Nickerson
    • Wyatt Rice
    • Xavier Picotte
Picture
Nonfiction
​A 2021 Newbery Honor Book
A 2021 Robert F. Sibert Honor Book
A 2021 YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults Finalist


A unique account of the amazing Thai cave rescue told in a heart-racing, you-are-there style that blends suspense, science, and cultural insight.

On June 23, 2018, twelve young players of the Wild Boars soccer team and their coach enter a cave in northern Thailand seeking an afternoon’s adventure. But when they turn to leave, rising floodwaters block their path out. The boys are trapped! Before long, news of the missing team spreads, launching a seventeen-day rescue operation involving thousands of rescuers from around the globe. As the world sits vigil, people begin to wonder: how long can a group of ordinary kids survive in complete darkness, with no food or clean water? Luckily, the Wild Boars are a very extraordinary "ordinary" group. Combining firsthand interviews of rescue workers with in-depth science and details of the region's culture and religion, author Christina Soontornvat—who was visiting family in Northern Thailand when the Wild Boars went missing—masterfully shows how both the complex engineering operation above ground and the mental struggles of the thirteen young people below proved critical in the life-or-death mission. Meticulously researched and generously illustrated with photographs, this page-turner includes an author’s note describing her experience meeting the team, detailed source notes, and a bibliography to fully immerse readers in the most ambitious cave rescue in history.
Activity 1:
June 23, 2018
Imagine that you are one of the last boys to be rescued. Create a journal for that boy, with entries for every day in the cave. The brief entries should include facts and emotional reflections.
Activity 2:
A Virtual Visit to Thailand
​Many aspects of Thailand are mentioned but not explored deeply in the narrative. Individually or in pairs choose an aspect of Thailand such as government, religions, or customs to research using print and digital sources. Then prepare a multimedia presentation to share.
Activity 3:
​Q&A
​The rescue attracted amazing people from many areas of life. Interview someone in one of the areas like caving, diving, the military, Buddhism, or others. Conduct short interviews in person, by phone, or through email, then share your findings.
  • Home
  • 2022
    • A Wish in the Dark
    • All Thirteen
    • Before the Ever After
    • Caterpillar Summer
    • Dragon Hoops
    • Efren Divided
    • From the Desk of Zoe Washington
    • Gone to the Woods
    • Ground Zero
    • Hunger
    • I will always Write Back
    • Instant Karma
    • My Side of the Mountain
    • Never Caught
    • On the Horizon
    • Prairie Lotus
    • Puppet's Payback
    • Rescue
    • Show me a Sign
    • Song for a Whale
    • Spark
    • Strongheart
    • Three Keys
    • Trapped in Hitlers Web
    • Tristan Strong
    • Verify
    • War Stories
    • We Must not Forget
    • When Stars are Scattered
    • When you Trap a Tiger
    • Wild River
    • Wink
  • 2021
    • The 57 Bus
    • Above
    • All the Lovely Bad Ones
    • Allies
    • Because of the Rabbit
    • City of Ghosts
    • Clean Getaway
    • The Dark is Rising
    • Don't Tell the Nazis
    • A Drop of Hope
    • Echo Mountain
    • Endling the First
    • Finding Langston
    • The Fountains of Silence
    • Genesis Begins Again
    • Look Both Ways
    • Maybe He Just Likes You
    • Momentous Events in the Life of a Cactus
    • My Year in the Middle
    • New Kid
    • The One and Only Bob
    • Other Words for Home
    • The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise
    • A Single Shard
    • Stepsister
    • They Called Us Enemy
    • Thunder Head
    • The Traitor's Game
    • What'sHisFace
    • Where the Heart Is
    • Wildfire
    • Words on Fire
  • 2020
    • Grades 3-5 >
      • Amal Unbound
      • Among the Impostors
      • Blended
      • Endling the Last
      • Front Desk
      • The Girl in the Locked Room
      • Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus
      • The Losers Club
      • Not if I Save you First
      • The Perfect Score
      • Ryan Quinn and the Lion's Claw
      • The Time of the Fireflies
    • Grades 3-8 >
      • Ban this Book
      • Breakout
      • Grenade
      • The Night Diary
      • Patina
      • SLOB
      • Stolen Girl
      • The Unteachables
    • Grades 6-8 >
      • Cameron Waldo
      • The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
      • The Bridge Home
      • The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
      • Internment
      • The Mechanical Mind of John Coggin
      • Monument 14
      • Never Say Die
      • Resistance
      • To Right the Wrongs
      • Shouting at the Rain
      • Warcross
      • Wind in the Willows
  • 2019
  • 2018
  • 2017
  • About
  • Contact
  • Rules
  • Books I've Read
    • Abby Helms
    • Abel Hoffman
    • Abigail Lashley
    • Adrian Sand
    • Adelyn Wells
    • Alex Klatt-terabelian
    • Allegra Johnson
    • Alyvia Rabe
    • Anna Hamilton
    • Anna Lind
    • Asher Gerlach
    • Asher Ham
    • Ashlyn Wendell
    • Ashton Brown
    • Augustus Haack
    • Bailey Dallmann
    • Baylee Kipp
    • Bailey Wilfahrt
    • Baylee Kipp
    • Beckett Ehrke
    • Braxton Mitchell
    • Briar Gunderson
    • Brigitte Basurto
    • Brittyn Frasier
    • Brody Dieghenbaugh
    • Brogan Pittz
    • Calin Light
    • Cameron Waldo
    • Camryn Jo Bunger
    • Carson Hamilton
    • Cash Schnuerle
    • Charlotte Nicholson
    • Chloe Henry
    • Cohen Wright
    • Colyns Mowry
    • Connor Edwards
    • Coralee Schurr
    • Corbyn Wright
    • Dakota Deterding
    • Dinah Sandman
    • Elin Patterson
    • Elsie Donley
    • Elsie Strand
    • Emily Lewis
    • Emma George
    • Emmett Nitchie
    • Evelyn Frerichs
    • Ford Mach
    • Gabriel Ayres
    • Gabriella Robinson
    • Gavin Kassing
    • Grayson Bray
    • Hadleigh Wasenius
    • Hailey Cepel
    • Ivy Nelson
    • Haisley McQuiston
    • Haley Downer
    • Hudson Schmidt
    • Ivy Nelson
    • Jackson Deaver
    • Jacob Jezbera
    • Jaelyn Bradley
    • Jaxton Stottler
    • Jayda Kincade
    • Jayden Glassmeyer
    • Jemma Just
    • Jerome Bieghler
    • John Wegner
    • Jonah Fegley
    • Juno Tischner
    • Kaden Russell
    • Kaden Schriner
    • KAIDEN KLEIN
    • Kaison Most
    • Kaitlyn Catanese
    • Kaiya
    • Kallie Wright
    • Kami Goedert
    • Kara Brockman
    • Karter Tilson
    • Katie Florell
    • Kenley Haussermann
    • Kinley Christensen
    • Kinley Hansen
    • Kyler Peterson
    • Kyper Vaughn
    • Kyler Schroeder
    • Kylie Koeppen
    • Kyper Vaughn
    • Kyrie Houghtelling
    • Kyson Bose
    • Laura Behrhorst
    • Lauren Quinn
    • Layla Popple
    • Leah DeWald
    • Leanna Ellingson
    • Lillian Helms
    • Logan Strolberg
    • Luke Lush
    • Lydia McGowen
    • Maddox Hartzog
    • Madi Trambly
    • Maggie Rawson
    • Mark Mahalek
    • Marley Hutchens
    • Marley Thorell
    • Mavrik
    • Mick Pfeil
    • Mikayla Kenton
    • Mistica Martin
    • Myley
    • Oliver Deibler
    • Palmer Loberg
    • Payton Adams
    • Peyton Soucie
    • Pierce Hytrek
    • Porter Wohlgemuth
    • Regina Pena
    • Rihanna Botello
    • Ruby Edwards
    • Rylan Lush
    • Santiago Carrasco Aguirre
    • Sofia Alvarez
    • Sutton Strong
    • Trinity Kappes
    • Truman Fennel
    • Whitney Wall
    • Will Nickerson
    • Wyatt Rice
    • Xavier Picotte