Blizzards

I read Blizzard awhile ago so I did know about what became known a The Children's Blizzard before reading I Survived the Children's Blizzard, 1888.  But I wanted to listen anyway.  It has been a lot time since I heard an I Survived. I do enjoy this series and hope that it becomes a way for kids to want to learn more about the subjects and I really hope those who read this one will read Blizzard because, like all Jim Murphy's, it is excellent. 

Tusami

There is a guy who comes into one of the libraries where I work and his a "conspiracy guy."  I am not mocking him.  I am big into conspiracies.  But he is the guy who talks about a them a lot.  I remember when the Japanese Tsunami of 2011 happened, he believe that the "tusami" was caused by the New World Order folks.
Anyway, I Survived the Japanese Tsunami, 2011 is the eighth in the I Survived series and I didn't think it was a very strong one.  But major props that the cat didn't die!  It wasn't bad, just not love.

Are You Going

Are You Going to San Francisco has to be one of the best songs ever recorded.  I Survived the San Francisco Earthquake, 1906 was not one of the best I Survived books ever written, though.  But that's okay.  You can't hit a home run or even a double or a single every time up at bat, right?
Whoa!  Do you know what just happened that is interesting!
I googled  "Are You Going to San Francisco" to put in the link above and the add that played before the song was for gun vote. com, which I won't link to, or even put in link form because I am not a big gun fan!  So weird!  I wonder why that particular add is tied to that song?
This is the fifth book in the series.  The backstory just didn't do it for me, I guess I just wanted a little more.  I will keep reading them, though!

Katrina

There have been a couple really, really incredible books about Hurricane Katrina.  Upside Down in the Middle of Nowhere and Zane and the Hurricane are two of the best books that I have ever read.  I Survived Hurricane Katrina is the third in the I Survived series and it is a good one, but it isn't like those two.  Of course, it is written for a younger audience.

Still, I would recommend this for anyone who likes the series and/or wants to know more about this terrible disaster that was both natural and man-made.  

#13

I Survived the Hindenburg Disaster, 1937 is the thirteenth book in the I Survived Series.  Here is more information on the disaster.  Here is the video footage.  Here is the famous radio reporting, which was also included at the end of the audio book, along with the Linda  Tarshis telling about her research of the book.  I thought this one was really good.  And I did learn some things I didn't know before about the Hindenburg.  Here is a list of 9 surprising facts!  I think I found out 1, 2, 4 and 7 from the book.

Don't Know Much about History

I really don't know anything about Ancient Roman history, with the exception of its art and so reading the latest I Survived...The Destruction of Pompeii, 79 A.D. taught me about this ancient city's demise.  Sure I knew that Mt. Vesuvius erupted and destroyed the town, but I didn't know much else.  This is the second I Survived book I've read, the tenth in the series and I enjoyed this one so much more than I Survived the Attacks of September 11, 2001.  I speculate that reason I didn't like that book was because I remember 9/11 so well.  Here with Pompeii, it is, literally and figuratively "ancient history."  Enjoying this book so much makes me want to go back and read the others in the series, that I haven't been around for, so not Hurricane Katrina or the Japanese Tsunami.  If this book is indicative of the others, I can definitely see why it appeals to kids.  They haven't lived thorough any of these disasters, at least probably not that they recall.  This title is action-packed and the main character, Marcus is so life-like.  Of course this will be a big hit and it should be!

I Survived the 1954 Oscars

I didn't.  But anyway...I Survived is a pretty popular series right now.  The author, Lauren Tarshis is coming to Sewickley in early March and I am pretty excited!  I have only read I Survived...the Attacks of September 11, 2001 and I thought it was okay, I only gave it three of five stars, but I think that was because I remember 9/11 so well and well, any book about it, written for kids that weren't even born is going to seem to not do the horror of it justice.  How can you do the horror of it justice?  Is that even an appropriate way to word it?  It was just such a horrible, scary, unreal day.  It was just beyond words.  And I know that this was a kids' book and so it couldn't even come close to capturing the horror of it all.  So for me, because of personal stuff, I just didn't love it.  I am going to read more in the series though.  I am going to do that right now.  It is interesting because at the end of the book, Tarshis says that she didn't plan to write about 9/11, but her readers asked over and over again for her to do it.