New books offers Joplin teens' tales of tornado, first year in warehouse school

JOPLIN, Mo. - Dec. 8, 2013 - PRLog -- When the city of Joplin, Missouri, was hit by an EF-5 tornado on May 22, 2011, some of those who were most affected were the students at East Middle School.

Not only were their homes the ones that were in the direct path of the tornado, but their school was also destroyed.

The new book, Scars from the Tornado: One Year at Joplin East Middle School, allows the students and a teacher to tell their stories about the tornado and the first year in a temporary warehouse school across from an aromatic dog food factory.

The book is edited by now retired teacher Randy Turner, who also wrote much of it. It also includes stories and a section of poems written by the students.

Among the stories offered in Scars from the Tornado are the following:

-The students' first get-together following the tornado

-Students tell of losing their homes and changing their way of life

-Students throw themselves into helping Joplin recover

-An eighth grader becomes a public spokeswoman for passing the largest bond issue in Joplin history to replace the lost school buildings

-A teacher tells how his reluctance to return to a warehouse school was changed by his students

-Despite their own problems, students work together to help underprivileged children receive Christmas presents.

-A student tells how she almost gave up after the tornado, but managed to turn her life around.

-On the final day, students realize that it may not be a traditional school, but they are going to miss their temporary warehouse home

May 22, 2011, will never be forgotten by the East Middle School family, which lost one of its own, a seventh grader, in the tornado, but the stories reveal how the students bounced back from their darkest time and made a warehouse into a school.

Once you have met the students and staff at Joplin East Middle School, you will never forget them.

Turner is also the author of 5:41: Stories from the Joplin Tornado, Let Teachers Teach, and the novel No Child Left Alive.

Scars from the Tornado is available at http://www.amazon.com/Scars-Tornado-Joplin-Middle-School/dp/1482571587/ref=sr_1_1_bnp_1_pap?ie=UTF8&qid=1386483237&sr=8-1&keywords=Scars+from+the+Tornado and other Internet outlets.