Lauren Tarshis Books In Order

Publication Order of I Survived Books

Chronological Order of I Survived Books

Publication Order of I Survived Graphic Novels

Publication Order of I Survived True Stories Books

Publication Order of Emma Jean Lazarus Books

Publication Order of Picture Books

Lauren Tarshis is the bestselling author of young adult literature, and historical fiction that have been so popular that they have been translated into several languages. Tarshis is best known for the “I Survived” series of novels, which has sold over 20 million copies. The “I Survived” series of novels are fast-paced historical fiction novels written for children aged 8-10, that tell the story of a historical disaster from the perspective of a girl or boy who survived it. In addition to the “I Survived” series of novels, she has also authored the “Emma-Jean Lazarus Fell Out of a Tree” novel that was an Oprah book club reader and won the Golden Kite honor for fiction. Her novels have received widespread critical acclaim and are used by many schools as educational and anti-bully program materials. She works a day job as the editor for a language arts magazine known as Story works Magazine. She is also the editorial director for Scholastic and Scope Magazine, a language arts magazine for middle school children.

Tarshis was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, but grew up in New York City, where her parents moved to when she was a child. Even as she is the editor of Storyworks the literary children’s magazine and a popular writer, she had never dreamed of ever becoming a writer. As a child, literacy had never been her strong suit. She had a reading disability that made it almost impossible for her to keep the words on the page straight in her brain. In fact, she has asserted that it was not until she was in high school that she became a proficient reader. Her early problems with reading led her towards a career as an editor and writer, where she worked for several magazines and newspapers before she took the job at Storyworks. It was at Storyworks that she realized that she had missed out on many children’s novels such as “Charlie and The Chocolate Factory” or “Charlotte’s Web”. Buckling down, she would read all the childhood classics she had missed as a kid and fell in love with a lot of them, which inspired her to become a children’s author. She gets the inspiration for her “I Survived” series of novels from an obsessive fascination with disasters, having been born on the day JFK was assassinated.

The earliest books that Lauren Tarshis ever read when she was in high school were about disasters and historical events, which further strengthened her connection to such stories. As the editor of Storyworks Magazine and the group editorial director of the Scholastic magazines and classrooms, she has witnessed firsthand the appeal that gripping tales of harrowing situations can have in children. Seeing teachers and children gravitate towards stories of dramatic events and natural disasters was the spark that she needed to write her popular “I Survived” series of novels. She currently lives in Connecticut with her husband and their children. Her extended family of three nieces, her sister-in-law, brother, grandmother, and parents live right around the corner from her. When she is not working as an editor or writing novels, she loves to spend time with her longtime friends.

The “I Survived” series of novel are stories of resilience, of children finding out that they have the inner capacity they never knew they had, family connections that were not fully understood and the importance of optimism and hope in life. The novels feature either a girl or a boy that is caught up in a fictional tale of a natural disaster or war, ranging from the Japanese Tsunami of 2011, the Nazi invasion of 1944 to the 1912 sinking of the Titanic. Having had much success with her earlier novels in the Emma Jean Lazarus series, she planned to release the third title in the series. But the popularity of the nonfiction works that she was producing for Storyworks made her stop and consider whether young readers would love a bridge series. From her personal experience and her personal observation, she knew children would love a book between The Lightning Thief and the Magic Tree House and hence the “I Survived” series was born. She does a lot of research for her novels to make sure that they offer the most enthralling information for her young readers. For instance, her research for “I Survived the Destruction of Pompeii” the tenth novel in the series saw her study sculptures and paintings looking for clues on daily Roman life, spend hours looking at artifacts at the Yale Museum of Art, read 23 books, and visit the ruins of Pompeii.

“The Sinking of the Titanic, 1912” is the first novel of the I Survived series of novels. Beginning with a flash forward, the novel tells the story of ten-year-old George, who is trapped on the unsinkable super ship the Titanic that sunk in 1912. George and his little sister Phoebe cannot believe their luck when they are offered tickets to travel with their Aunt Daisy on the Titanic’s maiden voyage to Europe. The ship is full of adventures for a ten-year-old, but as soon as he starts his exploration of the first class cabin, he hears a loud bang, and soon, water is flooding into the ship changing his life forever. Written from the young George’s perspective, Tarshis writes an authentic and well-plotted universal tale of devastating loss, extraordinary bravery, overcoming adversity, and survival. It is a moving story that is sure to captivate both middle-schoolers and adults that connect with the little child in them.

In “Hurricane Katrina, 2005”, Lauren Tarshis brings the horror of Katrina to life in this fictional account of a boy his sister and his dog that are caught up in the storm of the century. Barry is an eleven-year-old boy who is living in New Orleans when Katrina hits. To make matters worse, his little sister also falls ill on the same day, meaning that the family cannot evacuate like the other families and has to sit out the storm. When the storm makes landfall, it does not seem to be as serious as had been feared, until the levees break and Barry is carried away by the storm waters. Will he survive the storm to be reunited with his family? It is a great novel with a lot of suspense and tension where it was impossible to tell if Barry the narrator would survive. It also provides many interesting facts about Hurricane Katrina that many people would likely not know about.

One Response to “Lauren Tarshis”

1. Whitney: 3 years ago

   I love your book so much Lauren but I was thinking maybe you could do your next book on the bombing of heroshima if you could do that Mrs.Tarshis that would be awesome ,sincerely your biggest fan Whitney

   Reply