Author Kathy Cannon Wiechman takes readers back to 1937 and the record-breaking flood on the Ohio River. Using her grandfather's stories, she pieces together what it might have been like for two brothers in the town of Ironton.
Gus and his younger brother Pete aren't always on the best of terms, and the night the rain started was no exception. Gus was jealous of the time Pete spent helping their dad in his garage workshop. Pete was jealous of Gus's excellent school record and the fact that studying came so easy to Gus. When Gus brings home a girl he knows his parents probably won't like, Pete makes things even more uncomfortable just when Gus needed someone to be on his side. Gus begins an extended period of silent treatment that leaves Pete furious.
Perpetual rain falls and the river rises. Their father picks Gus to go with him to help the local men fill sandbags, and he tells Pete to take care of things at home. At first Pete isn't happy with the arrangement since he usually helps his dad, but as days pass and the rain continues, Pete begins to realize his job at the house is pretty important. Gus has a lesson to learn as well as he realizes helping with backbreaking labor isn't what he's cut out for.
The first half of the book gives Pete's story as he struggles to save what he can from the flood waters and at the same time protect his mother and younger siblings. In the second half Gus relates the thankless, hard work of filling sandbags and then his attempt to seek out his girlfriend and her family on the other side of the swollen river.
NOT ON FIFTH STREET is a real page-turner with suspenseful moments and relatable fears. It is an excellent historical fiction piece for readers middle grade and above.
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