[.ca] To Sleep with the Angels: A Story of a Fire (ISBN 1566631025)

Tragic Reading:
This book moved and disturbed me at the same time. It is a tragedy that should never had happened. The emotional and physical scars will last for years. Vary good accounting of the fire and aftermath. All in all a very good book.

Excellent, edge of your seat writing:
I just finished reading this book yesterday. It only took me two days to read it because once I started I could not put it down. As far as books like this go (history written by investigative journalists) it has to be the best I have ever read. I was captivated from the very first page until the last. The authors do a very good job of explaining the fire and its aftermath. The interviews with survivors were heartbreaking and it would be impossible not to have a deep caring for all the people in this book. I was moved to tears by a few parts of this book especially the parts that described the parents going to the morgue to identify their children and the parts that described the painful rehabilitation that many of the fire victims had to go through (some for the rest of their lives) after the fire. I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes to read at all not just history buffs or teachers or firemen.

Every emotion comes out with this book:
This is perhaps the most heartbreaking book I have ever read. It takes very little time in getting to the fire. A variety of factors (an old school building, ignorance of the blaze, very disciplined students, teachers not realizing the danger, absurd school fire policies, and incorrect information given to the Chicago Fire Department) led to this tragedy. The book gives perspectives from surviving students, teachers, priests, parents, firemen, policemen, and journalists. There are many disturbing passages and a few pictures that just took my breath away (among those a firemen carrying a deceased boy). It is hard to believe that this fire back in 1958 is still "unsolved". The end of the book tells of two suspects and how the Catholic Church stonewalled the investigation. The book also does a great job of telling about the many consequences of the fire- some felt years later. Although most of the book can be gut-wrenching there are moments of triumph as well. Many firemen and citizens are heralded for their bravery and quick thinking. The book also tells the tragic tale of the school janitor who saved many lives yet was later considered a suspect and his life virtually destroyed. This book really came to life when I saw a PBS documentary about the fire. Most of the people in the book are featured.

A frightening book:
This is the most terrifying book I have ever read. As both a mother and a teacher, I found I could not put it down. I literally read all day until I finished it. It is a story of almost unbelievable sorrow and tragedy. Not for the faint of heart, or those easily distrubed. I found it to be a fair, well written account of a horrific event.

A Masterpiece of storytelling!:
As a student of a Catholic elementary school in norhtern Illinois, I was shocked and scared to death by the rumors that came from my relatives in Chicago about this tragic event. I too went to an old two story frame school with stairs, high window sills and a six foot wrought iron fence around the perimeter of the school building waiting to spear anyone who would jump from above! This is a gripping and emotionally charged piece of literature, as well as an excellent piece of investigative reporting. Once I started reading, I couldn't stop. My uncle, a commander in the Chicago Fire Department on that day, refuses to talk to this day other than to say ruefully is "That was a BAD fire." Through all the heartache and pain I read in each chapter, I could not separate myself from those children. As I watch my youngest go to high school now, I am grateful for the changes that came as a result of the OLA fire, yet an saddened and somewhat ashamed of the cost. As a legal practitioner, I bear a sense of guilt at the handling and prosecution of the person I believe (and the book believes) responsible for the deaths of 92 students and 3 nuns. As a former Catholic, I can recall all too well the absolute authority of the church, which ultimately failed its parishoners. I have passed the book along to a friend who is working on his Master's Degree is School Administration as a testament of the duties and responsibilities a community shares towards its schools. Although the subject of the book is a disaster about the most precious things on earth, our children, it serves well as an indictment for all to recognize the value of those too young to protect themselves. I wish there had been more development of the successes enjoyed by the survivors and possibly a summation ascribing the culmulative effects and benefits that resulted from the sweeeping changes regarding fire safety in our schools nationwide. Nevertheless, this book is an excellent read and an extraordinary piece of work. My hat is off to the authors.