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Reviews
Six Days in October: The Stock Market Crash of 1929; A Wall Street Journal Book by Karen Blumenthal
bibliobrandie's review against another edition
3.0
Provided a lot of information about the stock market crash of 1929, including the days leading up to it and a little of the aftermath. Some of it was pretty dense, not sure that younger children would grasp some of the concepts. It didn't go much into what a stock actually is. The accompanying photos were great.
maxstone98's review against another edition
4.0
This is a joint review from my 8-year-old and me. He rates it a 4.5 stars and I would probably have done 4.25 stars (in general 5 stars doesn't seem like enough, at least for me, since I will in practice generally not rate books that I didn't finish, and won't finish books that I would have ranked 1 or 2 stars, and so in practice it is a 3-star system for books I finish).
I read this book to my son and it covered 6 days in the stockmarket in October 1929 in particular but it also gave a lot of background on the stock rise in 1927-1929, and some on the aftermath of the continued decline to 1932 and the Great Depression.
I thought it was a great book for those interested either in markets or in economic history. It did a good job of providing the background necessary such that people who don't know a lot about either stocks, the roaring 20s, or the Great Depression could follow what was going on (actually I'm not sure that is true of stocks; although there was some background about what they were, I'm not sure it would have been enough if you had no idea what they were). And the details on the first few days of the stock crash were great -- I learned a fair amount myself about the details, and many things that were true then about the interaction of fear and greed in markets are of course still true today and it was useful and interesting to get more details on one of the instances in which they went particularly nuts.
My son really enjoyed the book and it kept his interest the whole way through (and it isn't a short book). On the other hand we are both very interested in the topic and hence I'm not sure if all kids or adults would find it as interesting as we did. But if you like the topic, it was very good.
I read this book to my son and it covered 6 days in the stockmarket in October 1929 in particular but it also gave a lot of background on the stock rise in 1927-1929, and some on the aftermath of the continued decline to 1932 and the Great Depression.
I thought it was a great book for those interested either in markets or in economic history. It did a good job of providing the background necessary such that people who don't know a lot about either stocks, the roaring 20s, or the Great Depression could follow what was going on (actually I'm not sure that is true of stocks; although there was some background about what they were, I'm not sure it would have been enough if you had no idea what they were). And the details on the first few days of the stock crash were great -- I learned a fair amount myself about the details, and many things that were true then about the interaction of fear and greed in markets are of course still true today and it was useful and interesting to get more details on one of the instances in which they went particularly nuts.
My son really enjoyed the book and it kept his interest the whole way through (and it isn't a short book). On the other hand we are both very interested in the topic and hence I'm not sure if all kids or adults would find it as interesting as we did. But if you like the topic, it was very good.
misajane79's review against another edition
4.0
I don't think I'll ever fully understand the stock market or the 1929 crash, but I feel like I understand a bit more after reading this.
elizabethlk's review against another edition
4.0
I've been wanting to learn about the stock market crash of 1929, but I have been really unsure about where to start. My knowledge of economics is slim, my knowledge of the stock market specifically is slimmer, and I wasn't sure I could understand certain parts of the history without the background knowledge of stocks going in. This book was exactly what I needed.
Blumenthal does an excellent job in covering the people, events, and the before and after, and she makes it all even better by explaining the workings of the stock market and the meanings of different terms as she goes. I feel like I have a decent base knowledge of the 1929 crash, as well as an understanding of stock market basics.
I definitely recommend this for anyone looking to learn about the stock market crash but uncertain of where to start, especially if that uncertainty stems from a lack of knowledge about stocks and the stock market.
Blumenthal does an excellent job in covering the people, events, and the before and after, and she makes it all even better by explaining the workings of the stock market and the meanings of different terms as she goes. I feel like I have a decent base knowledge of the 1929 crash, as well as an understanding of stock market basics.
I definitely recommend this for anyone looking to learn about the stock market crash but uncertain of where to start, especially if that uncertainty stems from a lack of knowledge about stocks and the stock market.
katescarlson's review against another edition
4.0
Very interesting nonfiction read...I really like this author as this is the second book of hers I have read.
scarlettletters's review against another edition
5.0
This book is meant for kids/teens, but I thought it was a really great introduction to the stock market crash. It has information on so many things that I never understood: bulls/bears, insider trading, stock splits. It seemed to me to be an unbiased account of the things that caused the stock market crash. It was written on a very basic level so I could actually understand what was going on. There is a great bibliography and the book is indexed. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn more about this period in history but doesn't have a strong background in it already.
elizabethlk's review
4.0
I've been wanting to learn about the stock market crash of 1929, but I have been really unsure about where to start. My knowledge of economics is slim, my knowledge of the stock market specifically is slimmer, and I wasn't sure I could understand certain parts of the history without the background knowledge of stocks going in. This book was exactly what I needed.
Blumenthal does an excellent job in covering the people, events, and the before and after, and she makes it all even better by explaining the workings of the stock market and the meanings of different terms as she goes. I feel like I have a decent base knowledge of the 1929 crash, as well as an understanding of stock market basics.
I definitely recommend this for anyone looking to learn about the stock market crash but uncertain of where to start, especially if that uncertainty stems from a lack of knowledge about stocks and the stock market.
Blumenthal does an excellent job in covering the people, events, and the before and after, and she makes it all even better by explaining the workings of the stock market and the meanings of different terms as she goes. I feel like I have a decent base knowledge of the 1929 crash, as well as an understanding of stock market basics.
I definitely recommend this for anyone looking to learn about the stock market crash but uncertain of where to start, especially if that uncertainty stems from a lack of knowledge about stocks and the stock market.
iceangel9's review
4.0
A nonfiction treat for those who want to understand more about the Crash of 1929 and about the stock market in general. Young readers will be fascinated with this well written book, its beautiful pictures, and its understandable explanations of words and concepts with which they may be unfamiliar.
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