I Survived the American Revolution, 1776: The Graphic Novel

I Survived Graphix #8

by Leo Trinidad (Illustrator), Lauren Tarshis

A gripping graphic novel adaptation of Lauren Tarshis's bestselling I Survived the American Revolution, 1776 with text adapted by Georgia Ball and art by Leo Trinidad. Nathaniel Fox never imagined he’d find himself in the middle of a blood-soaked battlefield, fighting for his life. He’s only eleven years old! He’s barely paid attention to the troubles between America and England. Instead, he’s been worked to the bone by his cruel uncle. But when his uncle's rage forces him to flee home suddenly, Nate finds himself in New York City, in the middle of the American Revolution. He encounters an old friend and joins his army regiment as a camp helper. Soon the British invade -- and nothing goes as planned. Can Nate survive the war’s biggest battle yet? Lauren Tarshis's New York Times bestselling I Survived series comes to vivid life in graphic novel editions. Perfect for readers who prefer the graphic novel format, or for existing fans of the I Survived chapter book series, these graphic novels combine historical facts with high-action storytelling that's sure to keep any reader turning the pages. Includes a nonfiction section at the back with facts and photos about the real-life event.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Historical Fiction, Childrens, Middle Grade, Historical, Fiction, War

160 pages, Paperback

Published September 5, 2023

Reviews

[Theresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

The I Survived series has become a favorite of mine. They have such great stories and always have a lot of good information in the back of the book. Even one's that I think I might not be interested in, usually still blow me away.

[Becky B · Rating 3 out of 5]

When the son of his uncle's slave accidentally hits his uncle, Nathaniel Fox takes the blame to save the little boy's life. But his uncle has a horrible temper and Nathaniel must run away for his own safety. He used to live on a ship with his father, so he makes his way to New York to try and join a ship's crew. But he arrives to find battle lines between the American and British forces drawn in Brooklyn at the start of the Revolutionary War.

It is so crazy to think of Brooklyn and other parts of NYC as including countryside, but that's what they were like back in the time of the Revolution as this accurately depicts. A quick read that introduces readers to the American/British conflict and what led to it succinctly but well. This is a good addition to the I Survived graphic novel series and will likely be useful to middle grade classes studying the Revolution as well as of appeal to historical fiction graphic novel fans.

Notes on content:
Language: None
Sexual content: None
Violence: Battles that result in injuries and fatalities are depicted but wounds are illustrated minimally and not very gorily. Nathaniel's father was lost at sea in a storm. Nathaniel's uncle hits him.
Ethnic diversity: White Americans and British, Black slaves and free men, and some Hessians.
GBLTQ+ content: None
Other: Nathaniel's uncle smokes.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sometimes Tarshis takes the story a little too far almost bordering on silly, but what I enjoy is how much she packs in. She manages to say a little about a lot of things, making her books more introductory in nature. Nice to start discussing a topic, to be followed by clean up.
Trinidad did a marvelous job on illustrations.

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

This latest I survived graphic novel was really disappointing. The artist they chose to design the book made it feel so cartoony. There really wasn’t a plot and the background to the main character was so violent. Like did the uncle have to put hands on him?

[Rachael Fryman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another fun Graphix adaptation of the much loved I Survived series. Fantastic for reluctant/dormant readers!

[Sandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love these books. First they were regular juvenile chapter books and then were turned into graphic novels. All about kids in historical events. It really puts you in that time.

I wrote down one note while reading this book:

I really like learning words and phrases from other languages and on page 123 a Hessian soldier calls out "Ich werde dich toten" which means "I will kill you". So run if you ever hear that.

Kids who are not into reading will love these graphic novels.

[Tami Hungerford]

Made it to the last three pages without crying! It’s a game now to see how long before mom cries



But this one had some great talking points and made us want to read more history today.

[Alex =) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall this book was pretty good, I would have given it five stars if the action started sooner, because even at page ninety the action did not happen yet, but the ending was so happy even though you can not even see much of it !!!

[Lesley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can see why the kiddos like these graphic novels so much, educational and fun!

[wildct2003 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good story

[B · Rating 1 out of 5]

Absolutely terrible

[Britni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid graphic novel! It was easy to read in one sitting. Not my favorite of the series, but it was good! It’s a good introduction to the Revolutionary War for kids.

[Stacey Adams · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love how Lauren Tarshis tells history in a wonderfully exciting way through the eyes of the young. In this story Nathaniel Fox overcomes a tragedy with sheer willpower. He saves himself from his uncle's abuse only to find he's in the middle of the Revolutionary war. Luckily he runs into an old friend who helps him. I love the artwork, it's simplicity adds to the story. The trials of war are shown as Nathaniel makes his way trying to survive as he watches others succumb to the horrors of war. It's not overly graphic as far as blood and war injuries goes but it does address the subject. Well done.

[Ronda Wingo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Got this for my 9yo nephew who loves this series. Decided I would read this one before passing it onto him ☺️ i quite liked it for a kids graphic novel. Teaches them a little history in a fairly action packed read. Very cute. Especially loved how they represented slavery and expressed the boy’s confusion on the matter of some people owning other people. Also loved that the first thing in the end notes/history bit was how Native Americans were really the first Americans and had a brief little thing about them before going onto the other history stuff.

[Alyson Stone · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book: I Survived: The American Revolution, 1776
Author: Lauren Tarshis
Rating: 3 Out of 5 Stars

I have enjoyed the other graphic novels in this series, but this one was a miss for me. It was missing the charm and excitement I thought the others had. As a middle school teacher, I can see my students not being as impressed with this one. Most of them have read the entire series and this is not one they have spoken to me about.

In this one, we follow Nathaniel, an orphan living with his uncle. His uncle is loyal to the crown. Nathaniel doesn’t know what is happening with the war. He knows it is going on, but it doesn’t affect his day-to-day life. That is until one day, he finds himself being shoved into the war. Now, he sees all of the horror and terror that comes along with war.

As I started my review, this one did not pull me in the way the other ones had. The American Revolution is something that I enjoy reading, learning, and teaching about. I was very excited to dive into this one. I walked away with the feeling that there was not a point. It does a good job of introducing the American Revolution, but it doesn’t add anything to it. The other books in this series seem to add something. They give a sense of adventure and engagement. It makes students want to learn more about the event. I feel that this one does not do it.

We have a lot of great character work. Nathaniel is a well-written and well-done character. He is someone who is around violence and has been the victim of it. He has seen the worst things in life. He lost his parents and his life. Sadly, there are children his age who go through this. This will allow those children to have someone who is like them and give them something to latch onto. We see Nathaniel get away from his situation. I mean, he runs away and goes on an adventure. His character alone is enough to drive the story.

Overall, this was another miss, which seems to be the trend this week. It’s kind of annoying.

[Cyndie Courtney · Rating 3 out of 5]

These books represent the first time our eldest is encountering "history" outside of our guidance and we're definitely learning ourselves what that means for us as parents. These historical fiction novels present real historical events in the context of fictional characters. While the lead characters consistently have a happy ending (at least for themselves) the same is not always true for the people that surround them. It's definitely hard balancing the fact that these events truly happened with knowing when is the right time to teach your child about the scary violence that truly happens in the world and the reasons why it occurs. The fact that our kiddos seem to have some idea of what has happened in history, what is going on in the world now, and seem to be interested in learning more about it, especially in safe context (ie. with us) that can help them wrap their heads around what it means both for them and their understanding of the world, has me willing to keep reading these with him and finding them more helpful than harmful. I do usually find they toe the "classic" historical line and tend not to go into more controversial historical topics, and sometimes we do find ourselves adding more historical context - for example in this one explaining that taxes were not the only reason that Americans likely wanted independence from Britain.

[Ms. Yingling · Rating 3 out of 5]

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus


Nathaniel Fox sailed with his father, a sea captain, after his mother's death, but when his father was washed overboard, he ended up living in Virginia with his rich uncle, Mr. Storch. The uncle is cruel, enslaving a woman and her son and selling her husband. When the son accidentally hits Storch with a stick, Nathaniel takes the blame and then runs off to New York, only to find that the country is in the grips of the Revolutionary War. He tries to walk away, but ends up in an army camp, where he finds one of the sailors from his father's ship. He decides to stay and work in the camp, and ends up in the fighting of the Battle of Brooklyn.

These graphic novel adaptations are very popular with my students, who love Tarshis' work even though some of them won't pick up any other historical fiction books. The graphic novels are almost exactly like the novels, and about the same length, so I have only purchased a few.

[Melissa Lynch · Rating 3 out of 5]

"You never know what lies ahead." Anything is possible.

Author's note: When I first started thinking about writing an I Survived book about the American Revolution, I had no idea what I would focus on. The war was very long - it lasted more than eight years, from 1775-1783. There was no way all of that would fit into one I Survived book.

Then one day I was at a park in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, in New York City. There's a huge monument there. Reading the plaque, I learned it was created in honor of 11,500 American soldiers who died on British prison ships. Many of them were captured during the Battle of Brooklyn.

I had never heard of this battle. And I was shocked to learn it was the biggest battle of the Revolutionary War. As I learned more, I decided that this would be the topic for my I Survived book.

[Mark Will Never Cry · Rating 4 out of 5]

I feel like this book is the best one so far in the series (not in the chronological order, but in the order that my library is giving me these books, this is like the 3rd one). There are very clear stakes for the main character and they have some type of involvement with the conflict. There is a lot of time spent on the story, but there are also a lot of facts about the way that revolution actually happened. Was it maybe a bit of modern optimism that this young boy immediately went and freed the slaves that belonged to his family? Maybe, but it seems to make sense when looking at the main character and it is clearly portrayed to the audience, that that is not the opinion held by everyone at the time. Overall - this was great.

[Ellon · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars (I really liked it)

It took a little bit for me to get into this book but I ended up really liking how Tarshis showed the American Revolution from a very different POV. I probably would have given the book 3 stars but I really liked the way more information was presented in the back matter.
I do think it's a tiny bit gorey, which I get because the war was a bloody one, but it makes me hesitate to buy for my elementary school library.

[Levi Sieh · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was about a kid who was in a middle of a war he did everything he could to fight and stay alive.One of the solders that he was close to died in the war he ended up surviving his uncle died of smallpox then he got all of his old stuff then he got to go home.I like the book because I like graphic novels and I survived books so I recommend this book.I think is a 5 star rating because all the action and entertainment and the cliffhangers when your done for the day.

[Micah · Rating 1 out of 5]

SPOILERS AHEAD I really do not like this book due to the fact that the background colors are horrible. I really don't like this book because a character dies in battle. I don't like that both of the parents die, and that his uncle slaps him just because of a little stick hits him on the head because of a little kid. The uncle is strict which the books unenjoyable. The "natural disaster" doesn't start early at all and that drags the book out, while also barely getting any action at all.

[Marisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm sad I didn't like this one. I really liked the other installements I read, but this one just wasn’t up to par. It didn’t pack the same emotion, and the art style didn’t suit the story. I also think there were much better storyline possibilities to use to talk about a child’s experience of the American Revolution than the one chosen.

[Alivia Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an eyeopening book this gave a side of the story that I did not know of an young adult how was living with his uncle that was not nice. and there was a lot of emotion in just the beginning.
I really like this hope you do to
HAVE A GOOD DAY EVERYONE:)

[Esme_weatherwax · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a really good historical fiction book for children. The facts are correct and I liked that there was a section at the end of the book that had more facts. The illustrations were pretty accurate for the time period as well.

[Ben Moritz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book, the first time I picked it up, I couldn’t put it down. I’ve probably read it around 3-4 times. I love the “I survived” graphic novels better than probably any other book I’ve ever read.

[Graham · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a really good book so you should get it

[Meygan Cox · Rating 2 out of 5]

My least favorite out of the I Survived Graphic Novels.

[Jen Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing series. My daughter’s favorite, and she got me hooked. Very well done, just enough danger and thrill for a kid, but not too much. Overall this was great!

[Jessika Caruso · Rating 4 out of 5]

This graphic adaptation was well executed and compelling without being too graphic for upper elementary/middle school.
My only gripe is that it was too short!