The US Review of Books (USRB) highly praised “Ash! From the May 18, 1980, Explosion of Mount St. Helens” by Sandy Haney League

“Ash! From the May 18, 1980, Explosion of Mount St. Helens” by Sandy Haney League was acclaimed by Toby Berry of the US Review of Books.

Being a mother and a Christ-follower are the most important roles Sandy League has, both of which led to a career in teaching. She taught Sunday school at the local Baptist church and was a leader for a puppet ministry, which included writing scripts for her group to perform.

For nearly thirty years, with a master’s degree in education specializing in reading, she taught first grade as Sandy Haney in Basin City, Washington. (She had not met Mr. League yet.) She learned that nonfiction books appealing to elementary kids were in short supply. Put that together with her family’s experience with Mount Saint Helen’s explosion, and Ash! was born. 

“Ash! From the May 18, 1980, Explosion of Mount St. Helens” is a true story of the impact the massive ash fallout had on the author’s family, who lived directly in line with the fallout zone. 

Although many may remember where they were when it happened, how many people can write about the Mount St. Helens eruption firsthand? The author takes full advantage of having been there and describes the experience in this exciting children’s book. Young readers and adults alike are reminded of innocence lost. Gone forever are the days when an imminent explosion didn’t make the news cycle 24/7. There was a naïveté then—shock and awe, so to speak—when the mountain erupted.

The author describes the strange cloud-like puffs, then the darkness of the thicker ash clouds, and finally, the dawning that the nearby mountain was erupting. She writes of the aftermath of the explosion vividly: “The ash is covering everything like snow, but snow makes it lighter and brighter outside. This ash is making everything darker!” While specific and haunting, the narrative also describes the times (1980) when a natural weather event wasn’t immediately on the Internet. For example, League writes about visiting her parents near Yakima, Washington, when Mount St. Helens first erupted. “Let’s look in the encyclopedia and see what we can learn about volcanoes,” said Mom.

Here’s an excerpt from the US Review of Books that highlights:

“This book is a riveting blow-by-blow account, but it also explains the natural science experiment of regrowth that resulted from the unique volcanic eruption. Perhaps reading about it will inspire the next generation of population biologists or, at the very least, inspire a family field trip. Every elementary and middle school library should have this book. Children will not only have so many questions about the eruption itself but also about the days before cell phone photographs, streaming services, and the Internet. This intriguing look back at a significant event of the twentieth century educates its audience on more than one front.”