Left for Dead: A Young Man's Search for Justice for the USS Indianapolis
It's an unlikely beginning to what became a momentous, history-changing  history fair project. Eleven-year-old Hunter Scott was watchingJawsone  day when he first heard about the World War II sinking of the USS Indianapolis.  Intrigued, he investigated further, and discovered a shocking, heartbreaking  story behind what should have been a tale of heroism and patriotism. Torpedoed  by a Japanese submarine, the Indianapolis went down in minutes, taking more than  800 sailors with it. Several hundred survived, but only after spending days in  the open sea with sharks diminishing their numbers hourly. This is only the  beginning of the tragedy, however. In an effort to make an example of the ship's  captain, and in order to deflect blame from itself, the U.S. Navy unfairly  court-martialed the captain, painfully changing the lives of all the men  involved.Basing much of his text on young Hunter Scott's research, author Pete Nelson  does a fine job of presenting this story through the eyes of many of the  survivors. Old and new photos allow readers to know many of the men of the ship,  and personal accounts reveal the horrors of those days in the ocean--and later  in the courtroom. A bittersweet ending will leave the reader pensive and deeply  moved. (Ages 12 and older)--Emilie Coulter--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.