Donna O'Meara and her husband, Steve, explore active volcanoes, gather data about them, and photograph volcanic eruptions for magazines, such as National Geographic . Following a description of her early life, O'Meara vividly describes her visits to observe volcanoes in Hawaii, Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Italy. The extreme conditions in and around these sites turned the trips into adventures, highlighted by memorable elements such as melting sneakers, a rain of football-size globs of lava, back-country banditos, hypothermia, airborne ash, and toxic gases. Illustrating the text are exceptionally fine photos of volcanic landscapes and members of the expeditions. Sidebars carry clear descriptions and pictures (often diagrams) related to such topics as the formation of volcanoes, the types of lava, and the Volcanic Explosivity Index. One picture tells a lot about O'Meara and her husband: the snapshot of their wedding on Kilauea volcano. The bride traded slippers and a veil for sneakers and a gas mask, and the party arrived by helicopter on the newest land on Earth. A natural for nonfiction booktalking.

This first-person account by a volcano researcher describes her experiences observing active volcanoes in Hawaii, Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Italy and provides a host of volcano facts. An overly busy page layout and too many competing typefaces may put readers off, but the photos are many (and occasionally spectacular), the diagrams are clear, and the author has a natural storytelling voice. Glos., ind.

At 32, O'Meara went back to college and fell in love with volcanoes and the instructor who introduced her to volcano watching; they have been researching volcanism ever since. This personal account combines their experiences with a fast-paced introduction to the science of volcanoes. O'Meara describes harrowing visits to volcanoes of different types: Kilauea in Hawaii, Arenal in Costa Rica, Pacaya in Guatemala, and Stromboli off the coast of Italy. Sidebars add scientific fact (the formation of volcanoes, the nature of pyroclastic flows) or interesting additional details (life in the rainforest on Kilauea, necessary gear for volcano watching). Readers accustomed to sharp reproduction may be disappointed by the quality of the illustrations: Photographs taken by the author and her husband, ranging from dramatic full-page scenes of sparkling molten hot lava to snapshots of the two on various occasions including their wedding. Like titles in Houghton Mifflin's Science in the Field series, this volume will introduce young readers to a passionate scientist at work. (glossary, index) (Nonfiction. 10-14)

Gr 5-8-Dodging "lava bombs" and skittering across barely hardened crusts of pahoehoe may not be everybody's cup of tea, but for these volcano researchers, it's simply a way of life. In conversational prose, O'Meara records some of the truly dramatic adventures she and her husband have had around the world, scaling active volcanoes and recording data that may one day save human lives. The O'Mearas' cameras catch somnolent giants and vivid eruptors alike, and fill the pages with pyrotechnic displays and incandescent lava streams. For avid report writers, the author includes some nifty volcano data, details on their structure, and on the varieties of lava. Volcanologists are few and far between, and this first-person narrative will be an eye-opener to kids who equate eruptions with papier-m ch mounds, baking soda, vinegar, and some red coloring at the school science fair.-Patricia Manning, formerly at Eastchester Public Library, NY Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.