I Survived Hurricane Katrina, 2005 (I Survived, #3) by Lauren Tarshis

I Survived Hurricane Katrina, 2005 (I Survived, #3) Reviews

• 
  Julie G

  Do you know this author, Lauren Tarshis?
  
  She created the “I Survived” series for middle grades readers (and apparently their mothers), and each story is like a little bit of dynamite that explodes in the neural pathways of your brain within 90-100 pages.
  
  Neither my preteen daughters nor I can get enough of them.
  
  What Ms. Tarshis does is create fictional characters who “reenact” actual events that happened during some of our biggest moments in American history.
  
  And they are riveting!
  
  This one involves a boy named Barry, his family, a dog named Cruz, and one Hurricane Katrina.
  
  Barry and his family are forced to return to their home during the pre-hurricane evacuation because his three-year-old sister comes down with the flu in the car. His little sister is feverish and calls Katrina a “big fat lady in the sky” and sweet Barry feels badly about this description, deciding, in his imagination, that she is instead a “pretty singer, belting out her song.”
  
  The family awaits the storm with that same sense of positivity, knowing they have little choice but to face the unknown with courage.
  
  As a person who spent 25 years of her life in South Florida, I have sat out a few big hurricanes myself (including Andrew, who left the calling card of a tree on my car), and I thought that the author did an excellent job of describing the early arrival of the storm:
  
  . . . the strangest thing was the silence. Their block was deserted. There were no motorcycles vrooming. No kids laughing and shouting. No music playing or basketballs bouncing. Usually the trees were filled with birds, and frogs chirped from the bushes. But there wasn't a bird in sight, and not a peep was to be heard.
  
  You probably know the rest. The storm arrives, and it's even worse than anyone thought it would be. The water pressure from the category 5 hurricane causes the levees to “[crumble] like the walls of sandcastles.” When Barry is thrown, literally, into the storm, he turns out to be nothing less than a hero.
  
  There were some tears of joy over here, too, when the dog got involved.
  
  If you're ever looking to give a book to a reluctant male reader, this is the one.
  
  Katrina was a nightmare, but this little book about courage is a dream.
• 
  Bookishrealm

  For some reason I have this idea in my head that I need to work through popular children book series. This series in particular circulates very well at libraries and is almost impossible to keep on the shelf. With fictional characters woven into actual historical catastrophes, Tarshis creates books that are both fun and accessible to a younger audience.
  
  I Survived Hurricane Katrina is a close look at the events the preceded and proceeded the hurricane in 2005. I still remember all of the new reports that came in after the hurricane passed over New Orleans. There are still images that I can't get out of my head. Tarshis takes the events of this catastrophe and creates a fictional story that follows Barry and his family as they try to evacuate. Unfortunately, they are unable to make it out in time and Barry is ultimately separately from his family forced to survive the storm by himself.
  
  What I loved most about this story was Tarshis' ability to utilize writing to re-create what others may have experienced during the hurricane. It's clear that she spent a lot of time researching and thinking about how to effectively create a narrative that was both accessible and easy to follow for children, but doesn't stray far from the facts of the actual events. The pure terror that is captured in Barry's character was especially hard to read as a parent, but I'm sure is true to what a lot of families experienced that day. The story also has these amazing illustrations that help paint a clearer picture of the events for younger readers. Tarshis also includes author notes with questions that are still asked today. Why did it take so long for the government to respond? And if they knew the storm was going to be bad, why didn't they take the necessary precautions to make sure the people of New Orleans were provided with safety? I have my own personal thoughts about the answers to these questions, but I'm glad that Tarshis was even willing to put them out there. One of the final things that stood out to me was Tarshis acknowledging that it was impossible for her to feel comfortable including a happy ending to this story after all of her research. It is clear that this is a story/event that impacted her greatly.
  
  Overall, this was a great pick from the series. I'm excited to dive into the rest of the books and learn more about these disasters that have happened all over the world. This would be a great series to check for kids that around 3rd-4th grade especially if they love history.
• 
  David

  The most terrifying events in history are brought vividly to life in this new fictional series! In I Survived Hurricane Katrina, 2005 (I Survived, #3) by Lauren Tarshis, The horror of Hurricane Katrina is brought vividly to life in this fictional account of a boy, a dog, and the storm of the century. Barry's family tries to evacuate before Hurricane Katrina hits their home in New Orleans. But when Barry's little sister gets terribly sick, they're forced to stay home and wait out the storm. At first, Katrina doesn't seem to be as bad as predicted. But overnight the levees break, and Barry's world is literally torn apart. He's swept away by the floodwaters, away from his family. Can he survive the storm of the century -- alone?
  
  Lauren Tarshis brings history's most exciting and terrifying events to life in this new fictional series. This reminds me of a "We Were There..." series I read as a kid. Readers will be transported by stories of amazing kids and how they survived!
• 
  Maddie D

  1-9-12
  I am currently reading I Survived Hurricane Katrina by Lauren Tarshis. I haven't read much of this book yet, but so far it has been great. For example Barry is trying to get to Houston while the Hurricane is going on in New Orleans. His family wasn't paying much attention to the radio and thought this hurricane was just a storm. But unfortunately they thought wrong and made a big mistake. Now everyone is trying to get out of town at once, mean while Barry and his best friend Jay are finishing up a superhero comic book contest entry. Now they have to choose between that and leaving town to survive. This book is definitely a character driven book and an action packed book. It's character driven because a lot of it has to do with the characters. Like Barry and his family trying to get out of town, and Barry and Jays comic book. Its action packed because there all trying to get out of town at once and a huge hurricane is hitting their town. This book relates to me because one time I was at lunch but I really wanted to read this really good book. So I was trying to talk to my friends, while I was trying to read my book, at the same time I was trying to eat lunch. It was a very hard moment like what’s going on in the book. The only dislike I have about this book is that it’s hard to keep up with because so many things are going on at one time. But all those different things are very interesting, which is why this book is also fast paced. I would recommend this book to people who like a lot of action! This book is all about action, for example the hurricane hitting their town when Barry and his family thought it was just a little storm. I can’t wait to read more of this book. I think next Barry and his family won’t be able to get out of town and they will be trapped in New Orleans!
• 
  L. McCoy

  Umm... I don’t have a beginning for this review. Let’s just move on I guess.
  
  What’s it about?
  Life for Barry, a nerdy kid in New Orleans was fairly normal... that is until Hurricane Katrina. During the hurricane, he has to do all kinds of crazy stuff with all of his strength to stay alive.
  
  Pros:
  The story is pretty interesting and very well written.
  The characters are interesting. In this Tarshis managed to find a good way to have character background without too much filler (a problem I had with the previous book in the series was filler) so that’s good.
  This book is very intense! Lots of exciting stuff throughout.
  There’s always a few illustrations in these books and they are often very well done! This book’s few illustrations fall into that category.
  
  Cons:
  This book is unfortunately quite predictable. I mean, look at the title... you can tell what will most likely happen.
  This book has some massive amounts of plot convenience. As in, throughout it seems like something bad is happening but some kind of deus ex machina shows up.
  
  Mixed thoughts:
  The dog. I know some of you are thinking “you love dogs, how are there mixed thoughts?” Well, there is some cute stuff involving the pupper... unfortunately there’s some sad stuff about it too (don’t worry, doggo doesn’t die) and that made me sad. We also don’t know what happened to it after surviving the hurricane.
  
  Overall:
  It’s good. Yeah, I had a few problems with it but for the most part it’s a well written, intense tale with interesting characters. I enjoyed it.
  
  4/5
• 
  Tom Tom

  I really like this book because before I read it I did not it even know what Hurricane Katrina was, and when I read it, it was as amazing so that is why I really like this book.
• 
  Kelly J.

  I Survived Hurricane Katrina, 20005
  Lauren Tarshis
  95 pages
  nonfiction
  
  Barry is an 11 year old boy who lives in New Orleans and the storm hits. Barry's little sister happens to get sick that day so Barry's family has to stay at home while the storm happens. When the storm first hit it didn't seem to be as bad as the people thought it was going to be but then but that night the levees break and Barry is taken by the floodwaters and is taken away from his family. Barry is then taken to a bridge were you are suppose to go if you cant find your family and thats were Barry finds his dad and then they find the rest of there family and luckily they are all ok.
  
  I liked this book because the whole series is really interesting and it had a lot of different parts in the book when you might think Barry was going to die or get injured. Another reason why i liked this book was because when Barry's little sister gets sick i didn't know what was going to happen because i didn't know how badly she was sick but luckily she wasn't to badly sick and they all made safely out in the end. This book was really interesting and i really liked because it had a bunch of interesting facts that i didn't know about Hurricane Katrina. Those were some reasons why i liked the book I Survived Hurricane Katrina and i recommend this book and the rest oh the series to people who like books about stuff that happened in our past and how families survived it.
• 
  Ty S

  Barry is a boy that lives in the Lower Ninth of New Orleans. Him and his family know that Hurricane Katrina is coming. Their original plan was to evacuate but then Barry's sister gets really sick. Barry and his family get forced to stay and wait out the storm. At first the storm wasn't to bad but, overnight the levees break and all troubles break loose. Barry gets lost in the flood away from his family and by himself. Does he have what it takes to survive Hurricane Katrina?
  I really liked this book because all of the action there weren't hardly any dull moments. This book made me feel anxious about what was going to happen next. Anybody who likes action packed books would really enjoy this novel. This book compares to The Maze Runner.
• 
  Susan

  Great historical book for children.
• 
  Benson

  great book
• 
  Kathryn

  My son, who although a good reader and well above grade level, is not much of a reader. He's only in 2nd grade, so not real concerned yet. But the other day, he started talking about the "I Survived" series and was really surprised I knew of it. I went out that day to the library and got this book for me to read since he is reading it in class and also got him a couple he requested. These are short books between 100 and 150 pages and seem to be ideal for second to fifth graders. They are written in a non-scary way about a scary event. I would like to read some more books by her and see how she approaches some of the other events, such as 9-11 and the Nazi invasion.
• 
  Hasna M.

  I love Lauren Tarshis! Her books are AMAZING! I haven't read these books in a while since I'm into larger books but these were my faves in elementary. I think I've read all of them! Hurricane Katrina was what I like to call "my birthday disaster" because it hit at the time that I was born. Crazy, right? Does anybody else have a birthday disaster? Anyway, this book deserves a 5 out of 5!
• 
  Aaron Sauceda

  This book was amazing. Just like all the other I survived books, it talks about a historical disaster in a story kind of way. I really enjoyed this book and recommend it to almost everybody.
• 
  Hannah Cook

  My daughter (9) told me I HAD to read this book; so I did;D It was exciting from the beginning, but as a mother of four littles, I felt deeply while reading. Again, I learned much despite this being a children's book. My favorite so far of the 'I Survived' series.
• 
  Linda Lipko

  over and over again "Leave Town!" Barry's family packs up and tries to leave. As the depart, the traffic is stalled and is miles long. Barry's little sister is sick. Barry's dad turns around and hopes to ride out the storm.
  
  It might have been alright if the leeves in the Ninth Ward had not come apart, spewing millions of gallons of water throughout New Orleans, but in particular, the Ninth Ward was hit the hardest. With 125 mile per hour winds, Barry's family lose their house as the water continues to flood, and they head to the attic. Fortunately, years ago, Barry's grandfather left an ax in the corner of the attic, knowing a large storm will someday hit the area.
  
  As the family tries to survive, Barry becomes lost from his family. Clinging to a large tree, Barry Rescuing his friends dog, they are saved by a brave young woman in a large yellow raft who is trying her best to navigate through the snakes, the torn-apart houses, the oil and all the debre. She takes Barry to a bridge when he is incredibly lucky in finding his family.
  
  Fast forward to a few years later when only 19% of people have returned to the Ninth Ward. Barry's family flees to Texas and then they land in New York where a job awaits his father.
• 
  Jennifer

  I have read several books in the I Survived series, but this one has been the most moving for me.
  
  In this fictional account of a family who lived in the Lower 9th Ward of New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina, Barry and his family are set to evacuate the city when the evacuation order came down. They were planning to head to family in Texas to ride out the hurricane. But when Barry's younger sister gets very sick while they are sitting in traffic while trying to leave the city, they end up having to turn around and return home to ride through Katrina.
  
  Remembering the absolute devastation of New Orleans from Katrina, this story was very similar to many other stories of those who had to stay in the city. While this story has a happy ending, there were many that did not. I definitely appreciated Tarshis' depiction as a way to draw attention to the devastation as well as New Orleans' attempts to recover and rebuild.
  
  For this book, I listened to the audiobook, which was narrated by Arnell Powell. His performance was fantastic, and really brought to life what it was like to experience and survive.
• 
  Maddie

  This was a very eye-opening read, and I felt it was pretty realistic too! Such an insight into the events of the hurricane back in 2005. I was terrified when he was ripped off the roof by the wind and also when he saw that house coming at him when he was gripping the tree trunk. I loved the family dynamic to this story, the way the dad played music to the sound of the wind, and how he comforted them. I'm glad they were reunited.
• 
  rex ash

  Very uninteresting and not too fun. I loved the other books in this series, but this one just isn't doing it for me.
• 
  Meg McGregor

  I was a Middle School Reading, History, and English teacher for almost 30 years! How did I not know about this series?
  
  Another reviewer, Phillip, recommended one of the books in the series, and I decided to get them all from my library!
  
  I really enjoyed it this story! I love learning new things and Ms. Tarshis writes about the past so vividly, it is like she was actually there; you get the feeling that she is telling you about personal events!
  
  I can fully understand why students would enjoy reading her books! I would certainly include them in any History or Reading class studying the period being discussed.
  
  This story is so suspenseful that it will have you riveted to your seat! It is a real page turner. If you are reading this to children, they will not want you to stop reading!
  
  In this story, Barry and his family find that they are not able to get out of the city and must face the terrifying events of Hurricane Katrina!
  
  I was teaching students at that time and quite a few of our new students came from New Orleans. They were all traumatized; and did not want to talk about it, until they felt safe enough in their new home, to do so!
  
  One of my students, a boy about Barry's age, said they gave his family a choice of relocation points. His father told the supervisor he wanted to take his family as far away from water as he could! So, he chose Las Vegas.
  
  The passage below would make a great discussion piece or writing assignment.
  
  "Barry still had nightmares about the storm. He didn't sleep much. Even the sound of Dad turning on the shower in the morning made Barry's heart jump.
  But yes, he knew he was lucky.
  Luckier than the tens of thousands of people who'd been stranded for days in the hot and terrifying Superdome. Or the people who'd been stuck on bridges and highways and rooftops."
  
  I am an animal lover and have always had dogs and cats! They are my family. I didn't know "Katrina caused a crisis for the animals of New Orleans. Pets were banned from the Superdome, and after the storm, few people were allowed to bring their pets on buses leaving the city. Tensof thousands of pets were stranded without food and water after the storm."
  
  I think that that is disgraceful!!! God made the animals before us and it is up to us to take care of them! I am so grateful members of the Humane Society organized the biggest animal rescue in United States history.
  
  I don't know if I would go if my pets couldn't go with me. Hopefully, I will never have to face that heartbreaking decision!
• 
  Elizabeth

  When I first read the title, I thought it would be a memoir. Imagine my surprise to find it in the children's fiction section. At first, I was afraid that the book would take a tragedy and turn it into a who-will-survive action-adventure, I needn't have worried. The author is very respectful of the situation, and the story turned out to be quite interesting, even for an adult. All in all, I'm rather glad I read it.
• 
  Nicholas Dunn

  This book is about a New Orleans family and how hurricane Katrina effected them. In mid 2005, all of New Orleans evacuated, but not everyone could get out. This certain family was trapped and nearly died trying to save others! This genre is realistic fiction because it gave you a taste in what it would be like to live through it. This book was very dramatic and brought the reader into it but overall it was okay. Not the best book but also not the worst
• 
  Megan

  Had me all weepy at the end. I don't think I would have been as badass as Barry. I can't imagine what it was like to live through Katrina? It wasn't until listening to the story that I got to thinking about how many people were forced out of their hometown...not just their homes. Now I'm going to go read up on how the city is recovering 14 years later.
• 
  Tasha

  Perfect short audiobook for the drive to the airport today. Great book describing the disaster aimed at kids - I still enjoyed the story. The facts at the end were heartbreaking and reassuring - like the animal rescue efforts afterwards that saved so many!