Scan barcode
ava_xoxo4's review
adventurous
informative
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.25
alidottie's review
4.0
My students were all so excited to study tsunamis, it made me want to read this story. I like how these books introduce a historical disaster or event to children.
koreydobbert's review
adventurous
informative
lighthearted
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Death of parent
heylook's review
1.0
Bleah. Worst of the series, which is generally okay. This one, though, reeeeaaaalllly strains the limits of believability.
lanica's review
4.0
A good look at the Tsunami from a survivors point of view. It's a simple tale with a happy ending, but it has enough grip to show what actually happened. It's a must have for school libraries.
erikabearika's review
4.0
My students really enjoyed reading this book together during our morning meetings!
namsmommy09's review against another edition
fast-paced
4.0
This series is such an interesting viewpoint of these historical events. I love being able to feel like I was there without actually having been. Especially for those events that I would have not existed to "see". In this book, the main character survives not only the biggest earthquake to have hit Japan, but one of the biggest ever. The way it is described made it feel like I was right there with him. The author does an amazing job of describing it without making it so scary that a middle grade child couldn't read it.
rdyourbookcase's review
4.0
These books are a genius idea - historical fiction that reads like an action movie. Most book series for kids are fairly formulaic. Kids know what they like and that way, authors keep them hooked. In the I Survived series, it starts out with an action packed scene and then flashes back to how it began, a boy gets separated from people important to him, reconnects with them after a traumatic event, and at the end everyone is happy. Unfortunately, sometimes it means adults get bored - even librarians. They feature a diverse group of kids and world events, but... Every single book features a boy as the main character.
Every.
Single.
One.
I’m a girl. I like to read about girls. Girls are historically significant, too. Why why why is a woman author only writing about boys??? Aren’t we, as girls, told enough in history class that women weren’t important? Even if we aren’t directly told, we’re indirectly told, because most of the important people we learned about were old white guys. And some of these historical events are recent. Why couldn’t a girl save her family during the Japanese Tsunami, September 11 attacks, or Hurricane Katrina?
I understand wanting to focus on one particular audience and getting boys to read more, but boys will read about girls if they’re written well. The Hunger Games proved that. The I Survived books are written well. So mix it up and give us some girl main characters!
Every.
Single.
One.
I’m a girl. I like to read about girls. Girls are historically significant, too. Why why why is a woman author only writing about boys??? Aren’t we, as girls, told enough in history class that women weren’t important? Even if we aren’t directly told, we’re indirectly told, because most of the important people we learned about were old white guys. And some of these historical events are recent. Why couldn’t a girl save her family during the Japanese Tsunami, September 11 attacks, or Hurricane Katrina?
I understand wanting to focus on one particular audience and getting boys to read more, but boys will read about girls if they’re written well. The Hunger Games proved that. The I Survived books are written well. So mix it up and give us some girl main characters!
bgprincipessa's review
4.0
These books are legit terrifying? Maybe they seem too remote/"it could never happen to me" to kids, but the contemporary ones scare me a whole lot.