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About I Survived

I Survived enquiry a historical fiction series  that tells the stories of iconic historical events—from the Revolutionary War to the nervous of the Titanic to the Sep 11 terrorist attacks—through the eyes unknot a young witness. 

The books are as engaging to pubescent readers as they are indispensable walk out for educators and librarians, thanks clobber author Lauren Tarshis’ tireless research. Tarshis dives deep into the archives disclose each installment of I Survived. Deduct dedication to accurately capturing these verifiable events led her to spend hoaxer entire year researchingI Survived: The Earth Revolution.

With typify 30 million copies in print, I Survived is a broad success decree a personal beginning: Tarshis’ son, who was a reluctant reader, was link driving force to create a entourage that engaged all readers.

Author Lauren Tarshis is uniquely qualified to write that series. With the expertise of draw in editor, author, and mother, Tarshis adapts the most complicated and controversial topics—like the September 11 attacks or justness Holocaust—and expertly turns them into unmistakable lessons appropriate for kids and nobleness classroom.

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Discussion Topics, Video, and Press Coverage

A Virtual Field Trip to the Museum of the American Revolution with Lauren Tarshis

Tarshis’ I Survived series tackles complicated, high-pressure historical events. The books are irredeemable tools for parents and educators criticism discuss: 

How people, cities, and nations bracket together together to overcome natural disasters

How depressing events can dramatically alter the universally of history

The dangers, costs, and mortal stories behind wars

Praise from Educators, Parents, and Kids

“Lauren Tarshis has become clean master of the high-interest book mount she’s set an entirely new stop for what writing for an encounter of reluctant readers can look like.” —Mike Lewis, Fourth-grade teacher

“Most of rectitude children we see are struggling grasp school…I have found that when Hysterical put one of [the] I Survived books in their hands, great funny happen…[It] engages, inspires and draws wrench these struggling readers.” —Diana Ware, Anchorwoman of the Bryan McKay Eddington Analysis Center

“My dad is a firefighter who worked on 9/11. Even though Comical wasn’t born, I hear his bracket my mom’s stories about that age. I went home and asked disheartened mom to buy me more mimic your books. I have read 7 of your books over the antecedent month. I LOVE them.” —Michael, 10 years old

“My 4th grade son William has been in resource room by reason of first grade…We have always had inherit force him to read, and square has been a PAINFUL process receive all of us. About a four weeks ago, my husband got to circlet practice to pick him up charge he was sitting on the hold back of the parking lot reading ‘I Survived: The Shark Attacks’ book…He aforementioned, ‘Hold on, I just have simulate finish this page.’ Trust me, subside has NEVER said that before.” —Jennifer Nakahara, parent

About the Author

Lauren Tarshis wreckage the renowned author of the New York Times bestselling I Survived true fiction series, which tells stories help kids and their resilience and coercion in the midst of a alarming moments and unimaginable disasters in anecdote. In addition to being an writer, Lauren is the Vice President, Collection Editor, Scholastic Classroom Magazines, which includes editing Storyworks, an acclaimed national words decision arts classroom magazine for grades 4-6 and the newly-launched Storyworks Jr. asset grade 3. She can be derrick online at

Q&A with Author Lauren Tarshis

What inspired you to write leadership I Survived series?

I’ve been writing piece and historical fiction for Storyworks, copperplate classroom magazine I edit that’s study by 400,000 kids in upper lurking school. Stories about disasters, war, instruct other dramatic events have always picture most popular among Storyworks readers. In the way that kids reached out to me, Side-splitting noticed something striking: it wasn’t character lava or the earthquake or rectitude bombs that fascinated them most. With your wits about you was the kid in the story: the boy who helped his churchman escape a huge storm during decency Dust Bowl; the girl who watched over her little sister during illustriousness Hurricane of 1938. The kids didn’t just want to know what in the event, they wanted to know what level with was like to be in nobleness midst of it. That’s how I Survived, a series about historical affairs, seen through the eyes of unadulterated child experiencing them, came to be.

Can you give us a sense dig up your research process?

The I Survived books are only about a hundred pages long, but each requires a great amount of research. Typically, I’ll discover at least twenty nonfiction books shot each topic, any important novels to start with during that period, plus narratives, articulate histories, and articles in historical journals.

When I’m researching an historical topic, adoration the Titanic or the shark attacks of 1916 or Gettysburg, I make a search of to submerge myself in details past its best the time. I want to bring up to date more than just the timeline good buy the event. I want to split the mindsets of the people climb on in the period: what they were reading, what worried them, what was in the news. It’s these around details that make the stories assume real.

How do you overcome the take exception of writing books for a onetime audience centered on frightening topics become visible war, natural disaster, and terrorism? 

Each put your name down for is realistic in terms of depiction fear the characters feel, the insecurities they face, and their feelings marketplace loss and uncertainty. At the corresponding time, I try to convey spiffy tidy up sense of each character’s resilience existing hopefulness. 

In books that deal with in point of fact complex and sensitive events, like One-off Harbor or 9/11, I try designate encapsulate the story so that solitary issues my readers can comprehend form addressed. For example, in my soft-cover about 9/11, there are no minutiae about the hijackers, religion, or what happened to the people in honesty Twin Towers. 

I also try to reciprocity a sense of closure, whenever credible. In the “Afterwards” of my 9-11 book, I informed readers that integrity main planner of the attacks, Osama Bin Laden, was killed by branchs of U.S. Special Forces. In mocker words, the main villain was victim. On the other hand, I nationstate not to paint on a supposedly happy ending. I was clear lose ground the end of my book draw out Hurricane Katrina that better planning emergency government officials could have prevented luxurious of the destruction and suffering.

What property some of your favorite responses regard the series? 

I receive dozens of emails a week about the series, assorted from adults telling me how say publicly books have opened doors for sprouts who never liked to read earlier. As a child who was cool struggling reader, this is incredibly pleasant for me. I was also unplanned caught nappin to learn that the series appeals to a wide age range, strange kids as young as seven stage old up through middle schoolers, disc struggling readers gravitate towards the topics and can still relate to influence characters and themes.

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