Homeschool Friday - I Survived the Great Chicago Fire, 1871

Homeschool Friday is a feature here at Somewhere Only We Know that showcases books my family reads during homeschool and provides a mini-review for each.

I Survived the Chicago Fire, 1871 (I Survived, # 11)

By: Lauren Tarshis

Publication: February 24, 2015 by Scholastic Inc.

115 pages

Genre: Children's, Historical Fiction, Middle Grade, Adventure, Chapter Book

Source: Borrowed from the e-library

( Goodreads | Amazon )

*Note: The above link to Amazon is an affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--Could an entire city really burn to the ground? Oscar Starling never wanted to come to Chicago. But then Oscar finds himself not just in the heart of the big city, but in the middle of a terrible fire! No one knows exactly how it began, but one thing is clear: Chicago is like a giant powder keg about to explode.An army of firemen is trying to help, but this fire is a ferocious beast that wants to devour everything in its path, including Oscar! Will Oscar survive one of the most famous and devastating fires in history? Lauren Tarshis brings history's most exciting and terrifying events to life in this New York Times-bestselling series. Readers will be transported by stories of amazing kids and how they survived!

I Survived the Great Chicago Fire, 1871 is the second book in the I Survived series that we have listened to. We follow Oscar who's mother is remarrying after being a widow for a while. Oscar isn't happy to be moving to a new place even though he does like the man his mother is planning on marrying. When they arrive at the train station in Chicago Oscar's luggage is stolen, and shortly after he decides to take off after a girl who was instrumental in helping the boys who stole it. Oscar finds the little girl and learns why she is helping a gang of boys steal in the city. In the meantime, the famous fire breaks out and Oscar has to find his way back to his mother and Mr. Morrow while helping the little girl also.

My kids were really enjoying the audiobook when we had to take a break because they went on a trip during Spring Break with my parents and our library copy expired. The break in our rhythm kins of messed things up, and they weren't as excited to finish this book than I think they would have been otherwise.

Oscar's story is brief but packed full of all the good things you hope for in a kid's book. He faces many challenges and has to overcome them. The people he meets aren't always good, and he has to decide how to handle each one.

I Survived the Great Chicago Fire, 1871 was another good installment in a series that I know we will continue diving into. I love how Lauren Tarshis mixes fictional stories into historical events that help the reader (or listener) feel like they are actually experiencing the events and learning about historical events in the process. The characters always face challenges that bring out the best in them. I Survived the Chicago Fire, 1871 gets 4 Stars. Have you read (or listened to) I Survived the Great Chicago Fire, 1871? What did you think? Let me know!

Homeschool Friday - I Survived the Wellington Avalanche 1910

Homeschool Friday is a feature here at Somewhere Only We Know that showcases books my family reads during homeschool and provides a mini-review for each.

I Survived the Wellington Avalanche, 1910 (I Survived, # 22)

By: Lauren Tarshis

Publication: September 6, 2022 by Scholastic Inc.

144 pages

Genre: Children's, Middle Grade, Historical Fiction, Adventure

( Goodreads | Amazon )

*Note: The above link to Amazon is an affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--The Wellington snow slide of 1910 was―and still is―the deadliest avalanche in America’s history. Lauren Tarshis's story of one child surviving the frozen nightmare pounds with page-turning action and heartwarming hope. The snow came down faster than train crews could clear the tracks, piling up in drifts 20 feet high. At the Wellington train depot in the Cascade Mountains, two trains sat stranded, blocked in by snow slides to the east and west. Some passengers braved the storm to hike off the mountain, but many had no choice but to wait out the storm. But the storm didn’t stop. One day passed, then two, three . . . six days. The snow turned to rain. Then, just after midnight on March 1, a lightning storm struck the mountain, sending a ten-foot-high wave of snow barreling down the mountain. The trains tumbled 150 feet. 96 people were dead. The Wellington avalanche forever changed railroad engineering. New York Times bestselling author Lauren Tarshis tells the tale of one girl who survived, emerging from the snow forever changed herself.

Since I started homeschooling my kids, I have been looking for ways to increase the time we spend on books while also trying to get my 6-year-old son interested in reading. Audiobooks have helped us a lot. We mostly listen to them in the car while we're jetting around running errands. And it helps to cut down screen time and boredom in the car. I'd seen the I Survived series, but this was the first one I got for us to listen to. And it was a good choice.

Lauren Tarshis starts this book at the actual avalanche to build intensity and suspense. And then she backtracks seven days. Our main character is Janie, who is an orphan being used by a crime boss to run stolen goods for him. She doesn't have many choices as she has no other family or means of providing for herself. Her handler gets arrested, and Janie uses this opportunity to try to escape like her friend Bash did a while back.

The other passengers think it is odd for a young girl to be riding the train unaccompanied, and several take Janie under their wing. She befriends a young boy about her age named Frederick. She still has the stolen jewels on her, and she hasn't figured out what to do with them yet.

My kids asked me if Janie was a real person. Because this was my first experience with the series, I didn't think so, but I wasn't sure. Lauren Tarshis does explain what was fact and what was fiction in her author's note at the end of the book, which we listened to as well. I wanted my kids to hear about how much work goes into creating a story like this in hopes that they might learn that things they might think are easy aren't always so.

My son did ask me to find a book with a male main character for our next book, and I think I've found just the one. Even with Janie being a girl, her storyline of jewel thief would appeal to readers of both genders. My children (minus the three-year-old) certainly enjoyed the story. I give I Survived: The Wellington Avalanche, 1910 4 Stars. Have you read (or listened to) this book? If so, what do you think? Let me know!