I Survived the Black Death, 1348

I Survived

by Lauren Tarshis

The Black Death was a pandemic of unimaginable propotions, taking the lives of 75 - 200 million people worldwide. Lauren Tarshis's story of one girl surviving the plague pulses with terror, action, and hope.



In this gripping story about the first wave of the plague, I Survived readers will travel to medieval England -- a time of knights and peasants; cathedrals and castles -- when the most deadly disease in world history sweeps across Europe and parts of Asia and Africa.

New York Times bestselling author Lauren Tarshis tells the story of how one girl finds incredible hope amid illness and grief. Includes a section of nonfiction backmatter with more facts and photos about the real-life event.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Middle Grade, Fiction, Childrens, Historical, Juvenile, Audiobook

144 pages, Hardcover

Published December 24, 2024

About the author

Lauren Tarshis often wonders how she came to spend most of her waking moments thinking about disasters, as the author of the children's historical fiction series "I Survived." Each book takes readers into the heart of history's most thrilling and terrifying events, including the sinking of the Titanic, the Shark Attacks of 1916, Hurricane Katrina, the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the San Francisco earthquake, 9/11, and the Battle of Gettysburg. Writing these books often makes her feel very nervous, as though at any moment a volcano could erupt right outside her window. Then again, she has learned a thing or two about avoiding being eaten by a shark.
Lauren is also the author of the the award-winning Emma-Jean Lazarus Fell Out of a Tree and its sequel, Emma-Jean Lazarus Fell in Love.

For more information, go to her website: www.LaurenTarshis.com

And check out the I Survived Website: www.Scholastic.com/ISurvived

Reviews

[TL *Humaning the Best She Can* · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good story for kiddos about how scary the Plague could be. It felt light in terms of story but it'd be hard to write ✍️ one with everything that happened in there without giving kids nightmares.
It felt rushed in some places but methinks it's a good one to get kids learning about History and being curious to know more.

3 stars 🌟

[Stephanie H · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I saw that there was going to be an I Survived about the Black Death, I was excited! I’m so fascinated by fourteenth century Europe!

This was about as good a book for this age group on such a gruesome topic could be. It was just like the other books in the series: quick, easy, and interesting. Obviously it could only skate around some of the really disturbing parts of plague, but it did a good job of describing how widespread it was and how terrifying it would have been.

[Audrey Meyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good for a children’s book

[Jay DeMoir · Rating 3 out of 5]

Historical fiction about a plague written in a post-pandemic world >>>

Yes please. Sharing this with students. History repeats itself

[Jill Flanagan · Rating 4 out of 5]

My students (5th grade) LOVE the I Survived books. They wanted me to read some of them. They are great for a quick introduction to historical events as well as introducing them to historical fiction.

[Erin Cunningham · Rating 3 out of 5]

This didn't read like a typical I Survived book; I felt that it had less content and the plot line was a bit weak. Part of it I attribute to the subject matter (it is hard to make a historically accurate plague account that wouldn't horrify kids), but it felt rushed too without a strong resolution.

[Kirsten · Rating 4 out of 5]

An unusual historical time period that most might think kids wouldn't be very interested in, however, as the author points out these young readers recently survived their own kind of plague with the COVID-19 crisis. So, in some ways, they can easily relate to the fear, the illness, and the shutdowns, maybe not the horrible pustules or the medieval stench. Very well done.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This didn't read like a lot of the other I Survived books. It follows the story of Elsie, a girl in the 1300s. Her dad is off at war and she lives with her grandmother. She visits with a family friend who just got back from abroad and tells about a terrible illness sweeping through the land. She and her friend witness a powerful man and a group of thieves with the church's treasures (this is where it felt a bit off from others). Elsie winds up having the Plague and surviving while many in her village die.

Unlike the other I Survived books, this one seemed to focus much more on what else was going on versus the disaster that was survived. It didn't really do it for me.

[mace · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don’t think there is really anything you can talk about when writing a review on a book like this.

In my opinion, I think this 3 stars. Why? I mean to be honest, every I survived book is basically the same thing, just depends on how good the characters are and what event it was.

To support my claim that all of them are pretty much the same, but some things are different, if you read this and any other i survived book, you’ll realize that they are both a decent story about a kid surviving a accident or disease or natural disasters.

I’m not saying I didn’t like this book, but, it feels the same as the destruction of Pompei and every other I survived book I read
(I read to much but forgot which ones, and they have no use on my has read.)

My final opinion is, this book was the same as others, but I survived books are probably some of the best historical fiction books.

Also, a thing with I survived books is that you read them when you are younger and live them, then when you get older, you realize they aren’t as good as you remember.

This book was ok, now bye.

I’m writing this later and just realized what I said in the beginning is a pretty much a lie🫠 how could I say that there is nothing to write a review about, just for me to write a very long review in these books. Very hypocritical of me indeed.

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

Those sensitive to stories that will remind them of the Covid crisis this is not for you.

From an adult perspective, I probably would have rated this three stars, but I think that the story that intertwines with the time period of the Black Plague would be intriguing to middle grade kids. As said, the time period is the 1300's when the plague was ravaging Europe. A side story about crooked peace officers and countryside marauders is included along with the development of the plague in a little English village.

I find that the I Survived series is a pretty good choice for this age group. The stories a fairly short, but not too short and there is a lot of high interest to keep the pages turning.

[Steph Myers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lauren always does an amazing job bringing history to life in her 'I Survived' books. This was a fascinating description of the events of the bubonic plague told through the eyes of a young peasant girl.. While a rather dark topic, it is written in a way kids can understand and learn without being overly grotesque.

[Jared Hamby · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm an elementary school librarian but have never read an I Survived book though plenty of my students love them. Something about this new one caught my eye. Maybe it was the odd choice for an I Survived book or as I realized reading the Afterword some hidden trauma from the pandemic? I definitely enjoyed the book. As others mentioned it's very light on plot and details but probably for the best. The story moves at a quick pace and the protagonist, Elsie, is east to root for. What surprised me, I alluded to this above, was the emotional response I had reading the Afterword where she explains why she chose this topic. That children who had lived through the Covid pandemic were wanting to understand more about plagues and pandemics from the past and the parallels she found in her research. Theres nothing profound here, just basic information but it hit me in a way I did not expect. It awakened something that I'd maybe repressed. I know now that I'm not ready to read a covid book or see a covid movie.

[Kylie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Three and a half stars

This was another good addition to the I survived series. It was told from the perspective of a girl living in a small village of England, starting just before the plague hits there. The story was enjoyable and informative, but the girl is the second in the village to get sick. I wish the story had spent more time showing how the plague came into the village and people getting sick, and businesses shutting down, before she gets sick. It just felt a little glossed over. Overall, it was still a good story.

[Grace Cole · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was fine. Certainly not the best book in the series (by a long-shot), but will hopefully get students interested in learning more history.

[Belinda · Rating 5 out of 5]

As always an amazing book by Lauren Tarshis and I loved hearing her notes at the end!

[Sassy Mystic Reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting read

[skylar lokota]

feeling nostalgic so no rating but now I want to reread all the books in this series lol

[audri jaye · Rating 3 out of 5]

I used to love these books when I was younger, and I saw this new one in my library and thought why not :)

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

The kid seems a bit modern, but it’s a vivid entry in the genre and gives a sense of the catastrophe. I liked the side plots and the tension.

[Georgia Rizzo · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like how brave she is.

[Ericka Clou · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's a subplot about corruption in Middle Ages politics that was dull and not why I picked up the book, so I can't imagine children would enjoy that either. The plague in a smallish village was interesting, though it's unclear how realistic it is in terms of the numbers affected in the village.

[Betsy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked it. I’ll continue to read this series.

[Mollie Waters · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good for middle grade

[Alicia Mesa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Surprisingly not enough Black Death.

[Pamela Powell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another fantastic book by this author. The descriptions of the Black Death were intense. The historical matter was highly informative, and the author's note fascinating.

[Katie Young · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tarshis's protagonist is the pick me girl of time travel. Nothing's fair because she can't read and has no rights. There's no sense that life is normal. Seriously poor historical fiction. Where's Karen Cushman?

[Summer Reading · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tarshis comes through again with her impeccable research and appealing storytelling. Relatable characters face obstacles, make difficult choices, and defy the odds. I do love this series!

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful as always! Just a historic note no evidence as of yet that Black Death impacted India but we are learning more about the Silk Road all the time!

[Liv Balsitis · Rating 1 out of 5]

Honestly it was pretty boring, I feel like all the I Survived books are really exciting and fun but this one was just plain boring.

[Benjamin]

How? I think the story is: Sarah was reading kiddo the book about the Chicago fire before going to Chicago; he liked it, so she started requesting a lot of these books.

So far, he and I have read the Alaskan earthquake book and this one.

What? From reading two different books in the series, I think I can safely say, these are fine books, with the interesting gimmick of having the disaster be the B story. They all start with someone in the middle of the disaster, then flashback to learn more about the kid/teen, then catch up with the disaster and show how they survived.

And quick note about that "survived": before reading these, I thought the gimmick was going to be a lot more about how they survived, what actions they took, what optimistic can-do attitude they had. But in both cases, surviving a disaster is a lot more random -- and I like that. Like, the kid who survives the earthquake falls into a pit, but then gets ejected; the kid who survives the Black Death just... recovers. Actually, no, let me take that back: in both cases, they survive partly randomly (lucky enough to not be crushed by a falling building, lucky enough to have a functioning immune system) but also because there's other people to help (other kids help him limp home; she has her healer granny to help).

As for the disaster be the B story, well, that's a smart narrative move since a lot of disasters are short; so Tarshis builds up whatever else is going on in the kid's life as a way to show us a little bit more about the world or about that kid. For instance, in the Alaska book, the kid grew up in the bush, but due to an accident, had to move to town, and is not comfortable with other kids at school; his story is about realizing that being alone can be scary, and this perspective shift reminds him that even in the bush, they relied on people. In the Black Death book, there's a long bit about how the main kid thinks things aren't fair and wants to make them fair, especially when the evil sheriff is stealing from the towns he should be protecting -- but in a way, what could be less fair than the Black Death and you can't really rail against unfairness in general, but only work to make things better. (Eh, I'm reaching on that one a bit; honestly, not sure how much this holds together -- a lot of the A story seems like an excuse for showing the world and a little bit of adventure.

Yeah, so? Fine enough!