# John F. Kennedy and PT-109

**Author:** Richard Tregaskis
**Grade range:** Grades 4–7
**First published:** 2016
**Page count:** 103
**Genre:** Children's
**ISBN-13:** `9781504040037`
**ISBN-10:** `1504040031`
**Canonical URL:** https://readinglist.school/book/john-f-kennedy-and-pt-109
**License:** [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) — please credit ReadingList.school when citing.

## About this book

From the bestselling author of Guadalcanal Diary: The thrilling true story of the future president's astonishing act of heroism during World War II. In the early morning hours of August 2, 1943, US Navy motor torpedo boat PT-109 patrolled the still, black waters of Blackett Strait in the Solomon Islands. Suddenly, the Japanese destroyer Amagiri loomed out of the darkness, bearing directly down on the smaller ship. There was no time to get out of the way—the destroyer crashed into PT-109, slicing the mosquito boat in two and setting the shark-infested waters aflame with burning gasoline. Ten surviving crewmembers and their young skipper clung to the wreckage, their odds of survival growing slimmer by the instant. Lt. John F. Kennedy's first command was an unqualified disaster. Yet over the 

## Where this book is assigned

### Young Reader's Choice Award (PNLA)

- **recommended** · 4th grade — [source: Pacific Northwest Library Association — Young Reader's Choice Award winners (1940-2022), via Wikipedia — 1965 Winner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Young_Reader%27s_Choice_Award)
- **recommended** · 5th grade — [source: Pacific Northwest Library Association — Young Reader's Choice Award winners (1940-2022), via Wikipedia — 1965 Winner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Young_Reader%27s_Choice_Award)
- **recommended** · 6th grade — [source: Pacific Northwest Library Association — Young Reader's Choice Award winners (1940-2022), via Wikipedia — 1965 Winner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Young_Reader%27s_Choice_Award)
- **recommended** · 7th grade — [source: Pacific Northwest Library Association — Young Reader's Choice Award winners (1940-2022), via Wikipedia — 1965 Winner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Young_Reader%27s_Choice_Award)

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