Five Epic Disasters

by Lauren Tarshis

The New York Times -bestselling I Survived series expands to include this thrilling nonfiction exploration of five true stories, from the Titanic to the Henryville Tornadoes. REAL KIDS. REAL DISASTERS.From the author of the New York Times -bestselling I Survived series come five harrowing true stories of survival, featuring real kids in the midst of epic disasters.From a group of students surviving the 9.0 earthquake that set off a historic tsunami in Japan, to a boy nearly frozen on the prairie in 1888, these unforgettable kids lived to tell tales of unimaginable destruction -- and, against all odds, survival.Read their incredible Children's Blizzard, 1888The Titanic Disaster, 1912The Great Boston Molasses Flood, 1919The Japanese Tsunami, 2011The Henryville Tornado, 2012

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Middle Grade, Childrens, Adventure, Survival, Juvenile

176 pages, Hardcover

First published August 26, 2014

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

[Tracy The Great · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think it was a AWESOME book because you got to learn about 5 epic disasters that people have survived!!!!!!

[Charlie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a book written for kids, but I enjoyed it just the same. Brief historical accounts of children who survived disasters. I was familiar with most of the material in the book, but enjoyed picking up a few new tidbits. The author communicated humility throughout the book and gave credit to the survivors. I also appreciated that she did not embellish the stories but simply told them. I appreciated her emphasis on courage, initiative and knowledge. A good book that I will recommend to my grandchildren.

[Gabriel Benitez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un interesante librito sobre cinco terribles desastres: El hundimiento del Titanic; La terrible "helada de los niños" de 1888 que en unos segundos atrapó a cientos de personas bajo una tormenta huracanada de hielo y nieve; el tsunami de Japón del 2011 que es realmente impresionante ; dos Tornados que destruyeron un pueblo y una escuela llena de niños y finalmente una inundacion... ¡De melaza!. Así es, un gigantesco tanque lleno de melaza y construido al lado de un barrio recidencial pobre en Boston tornará y dejará escapar sus miles de galones del dulce líquido para crear una terrorífica ola de 7 metros que acabará con 21 vidas.
Muy interesante librito que se diferencia de los otros libros de Tarshis en que los relatos presentados aquí, no son ficciones, sino historias de sobrevivientes de la vida real, con fotos y todo.

[Nina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was very interesting.

[Erin Mendoza · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed being able to talk about these historical events with Andrew.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Young readers will be mesmerized by the five survival stories told in this slim volume. The author has looked for inspiration to events that occurred a century ago and more modern disasters. She researched the Children's Blizzard in 1888, the Titanic sinking in 1912, the Great Boston Molasses Flood in 1919, and more recently, the Japanese tsunami in 2011 and the Henryville tornado in 2012. Her accounts contain much factual information, of course, but also eyewitness stories that make the telling even more fascinating. Sometimes readers can see hints of what is to come in the accounts, making them wonder why no one took action to stop a tragedy. Additionally, the book contains photographs and information about how Tarshis found the material she included in the book and how she came to tell the stories. Disasters could be seen to have much relevance to those who survive them, and she makes these larger historical events seem much more personal and compelling through her prose. As I finished each account, I found myself relieved that these individuals had survived, sometimes through luck, a twist of fate or through their own heroic efforts.

[Luke · Rating 4 out of 5]

[Third Grader][Spoil Alerts]

I just finished reading chapter 3 "The Great Boston Molasses Flood". It is part of a non fiction book written by Lauren Tarshis.

First a young boy named Anthony Di Stasio and his family moved from Southern Italy to North End Boston. They thought that they would have a happier life there, but they were wrong. They had to work very hard to earn barely enough money and food. IN 1919, a company named USIA built a huge tank full of molasses in Anthony's neighborhood. Molasses is a sweet syrup used for sweetening and an ingredient for bombs in World War I. USIA built the tank super fast, so it had many leaks. The boss refused to fix, instead, he asked painters to paint the tank brown.

Next, when Anthony was walking home one day, the tank suddenly exploded! The huge molasses formed a giant wave and flew across the city. Anthony was pushed under the wave, and molasses gushed into his mouth. A firefighter grabbed Anthony, looked at him and believe that he was dead!

In the end, when Anthony woke up, he was surrounded by his family. He wanted to speak but his mouth was full of molasses. He realized that he was a lucky survivor of the strangest disaster in America's history.

USIA caused the disaster that killed 21 people, injured 150 people and destroyed tens of millions of dollars in property. The people of Boston learned that there needed to be laws to protect people, and when you want to build a tank or a structure, you have to ask the government for permit. Similar laws soon passed throughout the whole United States.

I feel so lucky that I was not in this flood!

[Max Miramontes · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think that the I Survived - Five Epic Disasters was a good book because I like to read about things that have occurred and now it affected the area of where the event happened. I also like the book because it was non-fiction and was also telling a story about true events that went down in history, like the Children's Blizzard in 1888, or the Sinking of the Titanic. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes to read about historic events or anyone who likes a non-fiction book.

[Lauren M · Rating 5 out of 5]

great about 5 true storys!!!

[Denton · Rating 4 out of 5]

My Thoughts About this book were Very Good I enjoyed reading it and learning about stories long ago before i was born,And these Stories make me feel Like how Related i can be to some of the characters, in some parts of the story i can also relate to things that have happend to me before,The author of the story made It difficult for some of the characters to get out of tough situations which i thought was very interesting.

[Margie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great stories of real disasters in interesting stories. Fourth grade and up to any age will find this and the other I survived books real good reads.

[Ryuji Ishida]

I am currently reading this and I can already say that this is amazing book because not only that the stories and events in the book are true they show you pictures and tell stories about people who have expirenced these disasters. They also tell the stories and it includes the tiniest of details so you can imagine these disasters.

[Odel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This I Survived book by Lauren Tarshis is about five horrifying tragedies that people had survived, but their lives would never be the same. The five disasters consists of a flood, a tsunami, a blizzard, a tornado, and the titanic. I think books like this one help us prevent these tragedies or allows us to prepare ourselves and each other by making laws to make these disasters less deadly. I think two of these disasters could have been avoided, one of the disasters that could have been avoided was the Titanic because it said in the text,” Ismay was accused of ordering Captain Smith to ignore the iceberg risks”, so the Titanic's disaster ‘could’ have been avoided if Ismay had obeyed the rules of navigation. There was also another disaster that ‘could’ have been avoided; it was the molasses flood that because the text states,”The tank had been hastily built”, it had later been illegal to build a shoddy tank in the middle of a crowded neighborhood. After reading this book I now feel like I gained some understanding of what to do and what not to do. I feel this book teaches a valuable lesson that disasters help us learn from our mistakes and help us to be more prepared. I would recommend this book to people who live in places where these disasters occur or you just want to be more aware.

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 Stars
I can't really say enough about how much I love this JF series. The fictional books in the series have sparked a love of non-fiction in all 3 of my boys. I have SO enjoyed watching them seek out books about the Titanic, or various weather events after reading the corresponding I Survived... titles. Sooo...when Lauren Tarshis came out with this book of true survival stories, I knew they would love it. What I hadn't anticipated was how much I would learn. I had never heard of The Children's Blizzard or The Molasses Flood before this book. I've added the suggested reading from some of these stories to my own TBR list and honestly cannot wait to read them. After each of the 5 stories, the author sites other books about the topic and makes some reading recommendations, as well as telling a little about how she became interested in learning the stories of the survivors. This was (for me) the most helpful part of the book.

My favorite kind of children's book is any book that makes a child want to read more...and more...and more. This book not only did that for my kids, but for me as well. Easily my favorite book by this author.

*Thank you NetGalley for providing an advanced reader's copy.

[Vicki · Rating 4 out of 5]

For elementary and middle grade readers, this is a collection of true natural disasters. Ranging in time from the Children's Blizzard in 1888, to The Titanic in 1912, and The Henryville Tornado in 2012, the author sets the scene through the life of a young survivor. In describing the Japanese Tsunami of 2011, 14 year-old Aki Kawasaki readies for basketball practice as a rumbling earthquake interrupts a typical Friday afternoon. The event soon escalates into a horrific tsunami that claimed 18,000 lives. Aki and his classmates had training enough to know the school children should climb to higher ground as quickly as possible, and little ones were carried on the backs of older children. They survived, and their school was destroyed. Factual info and photos follow each story and other resources are listed if interest is peaked to read more about an event.

[Kassandra Hickson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I survived has five different chapters, each with a different disaster. Disaster on is the Children's Blizzard of 1888. Disaster number two is the Titanic Disaster. Disaster number three is the Great Boston Molasses flood of 1919. The fourth disaster is the Japanese Tsunami in 2011. The last disaster is the Henryville Tornado of 2012. Each of these disaster stories is told in the third person.

I enjoyed reading this book. It is definitely for 4th to 6th graders. I wish the book was written in 1st person because I prefer reading books in that point of view. I like reading about the disasters in history so this was a fun book to read, but an obviously scary one because it talks abut all the scary disasters.

[Wendy Hudson · Rating 5 out of 5]

My son (10) and I read this together as a supplement to our History curriculum.The stories are ones that you won't find in history textbooks. We even added this to our geography lesson. I had my son locate all the locations on our globe as we were reading.

Each story includes children and their survival stories throughout the disaster. All are true stories and include pictures and additional facts.

My son and I both enjoyed these stories. The content and length of each story was perfect for holding his attention.

I highly recommend!!

[Penny Peck · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the type of nonfiction that kids will read for fun - a great way to incorporate the needed increase in nonfiction in the classroom, as recommended by the Common Core. Five American natural disasters are described: the 1888 blizzard chronicled in Laura Ingalls Wilder's THE LONG WINTER, the Titanic, the Molasses Flood, and the recent tsunami in Japan and tornado in Indiana. The writing has a magazine article-feel that will attract casual readers, and there are many b&w photos included. Look for more in the series to offer kids ages 9-12 who like to read about 'true' things.

[AMY · Rating 5 out of 5]

175 pages; This book has five different disasters told in story form but accompanied by facts, photos and other interesting information. It was very interesting and I learned about some disasters I have never heard of before. It is scary to think how many people are killed in these kinds of epic disasters. A mile-wide tornado or 100 foot wall of water approaching a town is just terrifying! I think children and adults would enjoy reading this one. Highly recommended Gr. 4 and up.

[Reading Rediscovered · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a collection of 5 short stories about real life disasters and the children (and other people) that survived them. I liked that each story was told in the same style as the I Survived stories, with more resources at the end as well.
I liked the stories of survival and really liked that they were short enough to be read quickly and not bogged down with a long, extended story.

[Bofei H]

Good book

[Susan Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good synopsis of horrifying events

[Erica McDonald · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book that was chosen for me was the I Survived: true stories. The reason it was chosen for me and not picked was because at the time all the other I Survived books had already been pulled off the shelf and rented by other children. That’s how popular these books are. The True Stories are a selection of stories taken from real survivors. The first story being the Children’s Blizzard of 1888. In the year 1888 Grover Cleveland was elected president, 38 states now belonged to the USA, the territories were still being explored due to the new railroad and America seemed to be flourishing. When the Blizzard of 1888 happen it truly sent the settlers into a whirlwind. The story written by Lauren Tarshis is a small collections of diary quotes and imagination focusing mostly on the little character of Walter Allen. An undiscovered storm came crashing into the town of Groton Dakota, “It was like day turned to night.” This was the calm before the storm and 400 people died at the hand of this icy tempest.
Then next story of this collection of true stories is the Titanic Disaster. This story is told through the lens of a young seventeen-year-old Jack Thayer who was departing on the Titanic from his trip to Europe with his parents back to America. Theodor Roosevelt was working towards preservation laws in American national parks, women’s suffrage was on the horizon, and travel wasn’t only becoming more relevant and luxurious. The Titanic was the first massive forms of transportation of its kind. Engineered by Thomas Andrews and captained by Edward Smith. This iron giant was said to be unsinkable. But in the horrific stories told of the few survivors we see that that was not the case. Thayer tells of his parents, the comfortable life they shared on the ship and the night that it all came crashing into thee dark Atlantic. 1,500 people never returned home.
The third story of the True Stories is the Great Boston Molasses of 1919 where there was a small poor town that soon become covered in the sticky sugary tar. Molasses was a cheap sweetener and used by most people who were not wealthy enough to simply use white sugar, till sugar prices crashed leaving the town with 2.7 million gallons of molasses. The item was them boiled down into industrial alcohol and used in the first World War as gas for the bombs used against the Germans. On top of that horrible war the flu epidemic spread like wildfire taking with it fifty million people. Death was no stranger to this time period. What was shocking however was when the sound of machine guns rang across the poor side of Boston no one expected it to be the giant molasses vat sending the 2.7 million gallons spewing over the town filling homes, cars and mouths with this goo. Anthony tells this story of how his Italian family was new to this part of the world and America when this tragedy struck and nearly killed him.
Tsunami’s are no stranger to the coasts of Japan and so in 2011 many of the younger generations were well trained in what to do when such a disaster strikes without warning. The Japanese Tsunami, 2011 is told by three young students who lived through the massive earth quake and giant wave. Aki, Kana, and Fumiya explain to us what they saw that day. What is interesting is that for 2011 the most documented event was this tsunami, because the natural desasters didn’t just effect the day and the peoples lives but it shook a nuclear plant causing it to be a constant terror, years after. The young middle schoolers after feeling the huge shaking of the earth, explained as buildings swaying like blades of grass, they knew what was to come. These children began running for their lives picking up they younger students and carrying them, dragging them, pushing them to higher and higher grounds till they were able to turn and see the dark wall climbing to extreme heights (133 ft.) before slamming down on their homes. The death toll was 18,000 and when you see pictures of boats smashed halfway through buildings and “cars teetering on buildings” that number is more understandable. As I said before it didn’t just end there for these people because radioactive particles still fill the air and the ground they live on.
Last but not least is The Henryville Tornado, 2012 told by little Shelby, Diana and Lyric. This was a big year. America had elected her first African American president Barrack Obama, the Iraqi war was said to be coming to an end, it was Dr. Suess’ birthday, and for many, life was on the up and up. But in the small town of Henryville Indiana April 29, 2012 would be marked as the day of true ruin when a tornado ripped through the town downing homes, schools and barns. After the tornado had passes the hail storm came crushing what was left with its baseball sized ice. The tornado destroyed 215 miles of land, moving at high speeds of 60 miles per hour, killing 695 people.
These stories are not fiction they are real stories told through the eyes of real people reminding us that tragedy doesn’t discriminate, every day is a gift, and to cherish the people who are in our lives and to always be prepared.

[Addison Marden · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was coo, because it was a collection of books and it was a really interesting book

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a mix of 5 different horrific stories that actually happened to a person. The first story is something called the “Children’s Blizzard”. That was about how it was -40° one day and then the next day it went up at least 40 degrees. Not many people were worried but then a few hours later this huge snow storm hits and Will gets caught in the storm when he try’s to go get one of his prized possessions. He just curled up into a fetal position and just waited, and then his family went to search for him, his older brother sooner fought against everything and finally found him and conquered everything and got hime home. The next story was about this rich boy named Jack Thayer. He was aboard the Titanic when at about 1 am, had heard some footsteps and some talk so he wanted to see what was up. He heard the main person of the ship talking about how the ship got damaged by an iceberg. He only had one hour to get his family and get ready before it sinked. When the ship sank he describe all of the feelings he had and what all happened when he survived and how cold and frigid it was. The third story was about the Boston Molasses flood. The character Andrew had just moved to Boston and his family was having a rough time with money and jobs and keeping everything financially stable. And one day the USAI decided to build this gigantic tub that would hold over 27 million gallons of molasses. On his way home from work he heard some weird noises and later found out that it had exploded. The molasses was moving very rapidly and just like that he got knocked unconscious and got saved by a firefighter. The fourth story was when this huge tsunami happened in Japan. It was a good day and then they felt a big earthquake happen, and they were used to this because minor and short earthquakes would happen every day and nobody thought nothing about it. The wave was huge and liked/ knocked out the vast majority of the city and it describes how people survived and what they had to do. The last story was about the Henryville Tornado. The little kids were at school just like an ordinary day, and then it starts hailing and the weather completely changes. The place Henryville is located is perfect for tornado’s to happen. It was a very small town and it describes how the tornado destroyed most of it and how the little girl survived and what she had to go through.

I really liked this book because I got to get more insight into these major events and also I learned some personal experiences and what they had to go through. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone and I think that they would not get bored and I think everybody likes to learn something new everyday.

[Justin Quinones · Rating 5 out of 5]

The title of this book that I've read is called Five epic Disasters which is the I survived True storied which has five stories all in one book talking about the experiences people had when they survived an epic disaster. The author of this book is Lauren Tarshis who writes fiction and non-fiction and is also considered by The New York Times best selling series of the I Survived series. The theme of this book is about natural disasters that happened and the experiences that people shared as they went through it.

There are five stories in this book but since they are all connected they are about natural disasters that have occurred in history and it also tells and shares the experience that the person dealt with during that time. My favorite part or story in this case was about the Boston Molasses flood which is something I never heard about. Basically a large company that built tanks filled with molasses in Boston but the problem with them was that some tanks started leaking. As the tanks were leaking people at the Boston North End complained but noting was done because the people were poor so they had to deal with it. Then one day the tanks burst and flooded the whole city with molasses and it was a total disaster. My least favorite part about this was when the company who installed the tanks didn't want to take responsibility or the blame for the cause.

The main characters of every story are Walter Allen, Jack Thayer, Anthony di Stasio, Kana Sasaki, Fumiya, Aki Kawasaki, Shelby, Dayna and Lyric. They are believable because they all shared an experience that they went through when they were experiencing and surviving the natural disaster they faced. My favorite character would have to be Walter Allen who was boy when he survived a dangerous blizzard because he didn't give up surviving no matter what and then hours later his family found him. I can somewhat relate to the three girls Shelby, Dayna and Lyric when they survived that Tornado because I remember when I was on vacation at the time, there was a strong hurricane that I though there was going to be a tornado but thankfully there wasn't.

I liked the book because it was very interesting to find out natural disasters Ive never heard about, like The Great Boston Molasses Flood for example. Overall I found it entertaining to read with the people in those stories doing heroic things. I would recommend this book to someone who is into nature because they will find it interesting as I've found it interesting.

[Prachi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about 5 stories of survival including real kids that were in the midst of epic disasters. These 5 stories explained the survival of that lived during these terrible disasters. The disasters were The Children's Blizzard, The Titanic Disaster, The Great Boston Molasses Flood, The Japanese Tsunami, and The Henryville Tornado. I found this book to be very interesting because I didn't know about some of these events that occured, and it fascinated me that so many people survived even through these tough times, but also many people died. Many places were wiped out and the cost to repair them was incredibly expensive. So many lives were lost and I couldn't imagine how families felt after these deaths. This book is very interesting because many people actually don't know about these events and it's really cool learning about events you didn't know occured.

I rate this book a 4 out of 5 because I really liked it and I would definitley continue the series but I wouldn't read them on a regular basis. The book caught my attention with the natural disasters that occured which were very interesting to read about. This book is definitley for people who love non-fiction and are into a bit of an adventure. I would definitley pick this series out if I wanted to read some non-fiction, these books will keep you captivated because there is also some adventure in them. I would reccomend this book to people who prefer literary non-fiction but also has some excitement to it.

[Amanda]

This book is about five disasters. They are, The Children's Blizzard, The Titanic, The Great Boston Molasses Flood, The Japanese Tsunami, and They Henryville Tornado. They are all disasters in certain people point of view. The book helps you learn about how these disasters happened, and what people are doing to try to get out of that situation, and when they do they talk about how they got out of being injured, which is why the book is named I Survived Five Epic Disasters.

I thought the book was really good and it was really interesting because I love how it put in people point of view how they survived these disasters. And also how after each chapter there are some discoveries or pictures from the time, and what the people look like, and how it is different from other books when they just talk about how people survived and then they move on to the next chapter. But no, this book includes pictures from the time and some discoveries after the disaster happened. That's why I love this book, and hope to read another book like it.

[Daniel Esteban · Rating 4 out of 5]

The real-life story is the mining of I survive. In this book, we can see how people tell us how was. the experience of this natural disaster is, and they explain what happens at that moment. in this book, we see how they explain what they do and in differents disasters like tornados, floods, tsunamis, hurricanes ext. When I read the book I think this is a good book that tells us the story of these disasters that happened and how we need to take care of ourselves self this makes me things that that this is a good book for reflecting all the things we do in ours life. I recommend this book for all the people that like to know what is the feeling of being on the natural disaster and how horrifying it is. I rate this book 4 stars because you need to really want to see how is like to be in a natural disaster but if you want to know is one of the best books in the world.

[Theresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

1) The Children’s Blizzard 1888. I remember reading the Ingalls story of this as a young teen, but interesting to learn more.
2) The Titanic Disaster 1912. Horrible, especially for the powerless doomed third-class passengers and engine crew that didn’t have a hope of escape and probably didn’t even know what happened.
3) The Great Boston Molasses Flood 1919. This would have been funny if not so deadly. Didn’t know that Molasses could be used that way and never heard of this unusual disaster.
4) The Japanese Tsunami 2011. I remember when this happened and was fascinated by the stuff that kept washing ashore in California for years.
5) The Henryville Tornado 2012. I remember when we lived in Wisconsin several times having to go down into the basement of out apartment building and we weren’t in Tornado Alley.