Keywords: adventure, survival, religion, sports
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.
Reading Level- 5.9 Lexile- 1020 Dewey- 796.52 Accelerated Reader 7.2
Awards: A 2021 Newbery Honor Book A 2021 Robert F. Sibert Honor Book A 2021 YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults Finalist
Summary: This non-fiction book is about a group of Thai soccer players who go with their coach to explore a local cave and become trapped inside. The book focuses on the decisions the boys make in their efforts to escape as well as rescue efforts undertaken above ground as time is running out for their safe rescue.
Vocabulary: (All Vocabulary definitions are from dictionary.com)
Universal Theme: The universal theme of this book is about the sharing of experiences to prevent future repetition of history.
Literature Themes
Higher Level Questioning:
REMEMBER (Level 1) Recognizing and recalling
UNDERSTAND (Level 2) Interpreting, exemplifying, classifying, summarizing, inferring, comparing, explaining
APPLY (Level 3) Executing and implementing
ANALYZE (Level 4) Differentiating, organizing, attributing
EVALUATE (Level 5) Checking and critiquing
CREATE (Level 6) Generating, planning, producing
Activities:
Research websites:
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/thai-soccer-team-becomes-trapped-in-cave
https://www.businessinsider.com/thai-cave-rescue-timeline-how-it-unfolded-2018-7
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-44791998
https://www.yahoo.com/now/the-rescue-movie-thailand-boys-soccer-team-cave-diving-202433567.html
https://www.cnn.com/videos/world/2018/07/02/thai-soccer-team-rescue-orig-mss.cnn
Standards
Elementary
LA – Standards: http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy
Math – Standards: http://www.corestandards.org/Math/
Social Studies – Standards: https://aos98.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/ncss-standards.pdf
Middle Grades
LA – Standards: http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy
Math – Standards: http://www.corestandards.org/Math/
SS – Standards: https://aos98.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/ncss-standards.pdf
High School
LA – Standards: http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy
Math – Standards: http://www.corestandards.org/Math/
SS – Standards: https://aos98.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/ncss-standards.pdf
Author: Meredith Lesney, Middle School Librarian/Author
April 2022
Candlewick Press Teacher’s Guide
A 2021 Newbery Honor Book
A 2021 Robert F. Sibert Honor Book
A 2021 YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults Finalist