I Survived the Japanese Tsunami, 2011 (I Survived, #8) by Lauren Tarshis

I Survived the Japanese Tsunami, 2011 (I Survived, #8) Reviews

• 
  David

  I Survived the Japanese Tsunami, 2011 (I Survived, #8) by Lauren Tarshis builds this historical fictional account of the disaster felt around the world . . .the underwater earthquake off the coast of Japan that resulted in a disastrous tsunami that devastated the area north of Tokyo; many lives were lost and the damage costs quickly shot into the millions.
  
  Visiting his dad's hometown in Japan four months after his father's death would be hard enough for Ben. But one morning the pain turns to fear: first, a massive earthquake rocks the quiet coastal village, nearly toppling his uncle's house. Then the ocean waters rise and Ben and his family are swept away-and pulled apart-by a terrible tsunami.
  
  Now Ben is alone, stranded in a strange country a million miles from home. Can he fight hard enough to survive one of the most epic disasters of all time? Another well-written and interesting account of one of the worst disasters in recent history.
• 
  Michelle (driftingsong)

  While this was not targeted towards my particular age group, I thought this was an enjoyable read in the sense that the main character Ben goes through a great deal of development over the course of the story and it also gives an account of what it would have been like to live through that tsunami and earthquake.
• 
  Gracie Horlbogen

  The first part where the earthquake comes, is foreshadowing to whats going to happen next.
• 
  Ellie

  Compelling as usual. I was surprised that for this I Survived story, we did not get to witness it from the perspective of someone from Japan, and instead from a boy who was visiting Japan. I suppose I shouldn't have been as surprised as I was that the main character isn't from Japan, but whatever, there we are.
  
  This book came out in late August and I just finished it, in mid-November, about a week after a typhoon barreled through the Philippines and destroyed Tacloban, killing thousands of people. I'm sure kids will be clamoring for this title (as with all of the I Survived books) but I can't help but wonder when we'll get an I Survived about Tacloban... While I thought this was a pretty realistic representation of the events that occurred in Japan two years ago (though what do I really know?), part of me thinks that maybe it was too soon to tackle this one.
• 
  Ty S

  Ben is a military kid whose dad recently died. Now it is him, his mom, and his brother Harry. They are always traveling around from base to base but they finally got cut break to go see there uncle in Shogahama. They have had a pretty great trip so far but then a very powerful earthquake strikes and almost destroys his Uncle's house. After the earthquake they walk out side, look at the ocean, and see a massive wall of water heading straight for the town. Does Ben have what it takes to survive the Japanese Tsunami of 2011?
  I really liked this book because I was always wondering how he and the rest of his family rejoice. It made me feel kind of sad thinking about how many people didn't survive. Anyone who likes action books that can be sad at times or books like The Hunger Games would enjoy reading this book.
• 
  MrLion626

  This book, I Survived: The Japanese Tsunami, 2011, is a book about Ben and Harry from California taking a trip to their uncle’s house in Shogahama, Japan, only to be stuck in one of the most epic tsunamis of all time.
  
  I really liked this book. Lauren Tarshis, the author of this series, has a power to sweep you in her story. This edition was no different. I could practically feel the fear with Ben as he was in the earthquake. I could feel the intensity of the situation when the tsunami hit. When they tried to out-drive the wave in their car. And when they were torn apart by the tsunami. Spoiler: They find their way and re-unite, all of them in one piece. All in all, this is a GREAT book, and I highly recommend it.
• 
  Christopher Montalbano

  This book was an amazing story about a boy and his brother who travel to japan to visit his grandpa and, on a normal day a massiv sunami comes out of no where. This book tells about what happened in japan in 2011. I thought i was histoicly acuret and i would recomend tbhis book to any body who likes history.
• 
  Taylor

  read to my little brother but i’m counting it😌
• 
  Susan

  Great book... full of facts
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  Jett

  I liked the book because one earthquake led to a tsumami witch led to a nuclear reactor explosion that's crazy. Overall it was a great book.
• 
  Teresa Scherping Moulton

  Ben, his little brother Harry, and their mom are visiting Ben and Harry's uncle in Shogahama, Japan. Ben should be enjoying the beautiful surroundings that are so different from his California home, but nothing has made him feel happy since his dad died recently. Harry makes a wish that their dad will return, but Ben knows that he's gone forever. Suddenly, Japan is hit with the strongest earthquake and tsunami it has ever seen, and Ben is separated from his family by the furious and destructive wave that knocks over buildings and sweeps away cars and boats. As he struggles to survive and find his family again, Ben realizes that his father's advice and love are still with him, always.
  
  This was better than I thought it would be. It's very short and the writing is nothing special, but it does give a good idea of what it would be like to experience an earthquake and tsunami, and it does give good historical details about this particular disaster. The book is a quick page-turner, and I can see why this series is so popular with kids who like action, adventure, and true stories.
  
  I would recommend these books for grades 2-5. They would appeal to readers who like action, adventure, history, true stories, disasters, or survival stories. Two readalikes for the whole I Survived series might be the You Choose (Can You Survive...An Interactive Survival Adventure) series (by various authors) or the Titanic series and Island series, both by Gordon Korman.
• 
  Stefanie Burns

  I like this series. It takes true events and makes them interesting. The factual information is correct. It's just the dialogue and character that are invented. I read this easily in one sitting and was motivated by the narrator to do so. It did seem a little overly optimistic, but this allows the book to reach a wider audience by not scaring some readers. I love that my students enjoy these books.
  
  In this book the main character is visiting family in Japan. He gets separated from them in the tsunami after helping keep his brother safe in the earthquake.
• 
  David

  My son and i read this together. 😀
• 
  Sarah Monzon

  My 7 yo loved it. Says it had just the right amount of suspense
• 
  Logan Bartel

  I Survived the Japanese Tsunami, 2011
  Personal Response
  I really like I Survived the Japanese Tsunami, 2011 by Lauren Tarshis because it is about a natural disaster that I didn’t know much about before. I like that it has real facts from the disaster in it. One thing I don’t like, is that the book doesn’t talk about how they rebuild all the cities after they are destroyed.
  
  Plot Summary
  I Survived the Japanese Tsunami, 2011 starts with a Japanese American kid named Ben going to visit his uncle in Japan with his family. Ben’s dad grew up there, but his dad just died. He is very depressed the whole time he is in Japan and doesn’t appreciate being there like the rest of his family does. Then the earthquake hits. Ben is in his room and all of a sudden the whole house starts shaking. He hides under the bed and saves himself from the falling roof. His mother gets him out of the rubble and the family goes outside so the rest of the house doesn’t collapse on them. Then his uncle looks out to sea and sees a massive wave about a mile out that is headed towards shore. They all jump in the car and drive inland as fast as they can. The wave catches up to them and Ben gets separated from his family. He floats on a mattress and climbs up a tree to avoid the 20 feet of water that now covers the ground. He then makes his way to a school where there are other survivors. He waits there until his family finally comes.
  
  Characterization
  Ben is an average kid at the beginning of I Survived the Japanese Tsunami, 2011. He is just on vacation with his family but then the earthquake hits and messes the whole thing up. He then has to fight for his survival using his instincts. This makes me feel like he is the protagonist because he is just trying to have a decent vacation until the earthquake happens.
  
  Mother Nature is the reason his visit to Japan gets so messed up. The earthquake and tsunami destroyed the whole town and almost took his life. This makes me feel like Mother Nature is the antagonist because she destroys everything and almost kills everybody.
  
  Setting
  I Survived the Japanese Tsunami, 2011 takes place in Japan. This area is completely surrounded by water and lies on a major tectonic plate fault line. Because of this, there are a lot of earthquakes, and they last a couple of minutes when the average ones only last a couple of seconds. Because the island is surrounded by water and there is a fault line there, it is easy for a tsunami to be formed and destroy a lot of the cities there.
  
  Recommendation
  I recommend this book to people who like to learn about natural disasters because it has a lot of real facts from the tsunami in it. In the back of the book, there is a big list of facts about this tsunami so I feel that it is an interesting way to learn about this disaster. I would also recommend this book to middle schoolers and higher because it was an easy book to read.