Radar and the Raft: A True Story About a Scientific Marvel, the Lives It Saved, and the World It Changed
by Jeff Lantos
Intermediate, Middle School    Charlesbridge    192 pp.
9/24    9781623543457    $18.99
e-book ed.  9781632893109    $8.99

At the onset of World War II, German U-boats (submarines) mercilessly sank the military and civilian ships of the Allies, making transatlantic travel a risky endeavor. Americans living abroad had to weigh the risks of remaining in German-occupied territories against the treacherous weeks-long voyage back home. U-boat attacks were unrelenting until late in the war when advances in microwave radar detection allowed the Allies to pinpoint their locations, rendering them virtually useless. As the title suggests, this book divides its focus between the heart-wrenching story of survivors of the torpedoed SS West Lashaway awaiting rescue on a small wooden raft in shark-infested waters and a concise and highly readable history of the science of electromagnetic fields. Beginning with discoveries in the eighteenth century, Lantos provides background on each advancement in the science as well as biographical information about the scientists involved, finally introducing the American military scientists and engineers who figured out how to use microwaves to precisely locate distant objects. He ups the tension by alternating the harrowing experience of the shipwreck survivors with development of the radar equipment that was critical to both their rescue and the Allied victory in WWII. This page-turning account, with archival images and occasional chapter-opening illustrations (by Alan Marks), provides equal parts suspense and wonder for readers of history and science alike. Appended with thorough source notes, a bibliography, and an index.

From the ">November/December 2024 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.