I Survived: The Great Chicago Fire
I wasn't very into the I Survived books when my little brother was readers them, and honestly, I still am not really. That being said, I still think that they are great for getting readers into historical fiction. I especially love how after the story ends the author answers questions about the real historical events and provides insight into what exactly occurred and how real their story is. This helps to eliminate the confusion that sometimes accompanies historical fiction and gets children invested in history. This book in particular was very suspenseful, which I liked, but focused a little too heavily on Oscar, the protagonist's, past. I think the purpose of this might have been for the author to give readers a more comprehensive view of the midwest at the time, but readers pick up these books for suspense so those parts felt a bit slow. The characters were well developed though and Tarshis did a great job of making me feel like I was at the scene which was scary for maybe younger kids but super exhilarating, which is why my action-seeking brother read almost all of these books. Overall, though I would not recommend this book to all children, I think it does a great job of getting young readers, about 7-11, excited about history.
Title: I Survived The Great Chicago Fire, 1871
Author: Lauren Tarshis
Publisher: Scholastic
Publication Date: 2015
IBSN: 978-0-545-65846-1
Elly's Rating: 4/5 Stars
I appreciate your insights into this book. I know this is a very popular series with some students, normally around 3rd/4th grades. I read one on being a child during the Holocaust. It was very realistic and did not hold back on anything that was scary. The books in the series seem to be well researched and relatively easy to read for students moving from a series like The Magic Treehouse books to more sophisticated chapter books.
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