3^rd Grade and Up

It’s 1900, and Charlie feels lucky to live in Galveston, Texas. Sure, there are storms sometimes. But nobody worries about hurricanes. Even a famous weather expert says it’s impossible for a strong hurricane to strike Galveston.

Which is why few people worry on the morning of September 8, when a big storm starts to brew. But Charlie watches with growing horror as monster waves rise up from the sea, as the wind starts to scream.

By night, much of the city is under twenty feet of water. Will Charlie find a way to survive the storm of the century?

I was surprised to learn that Lauren Tarshis was writing about another hurricane. It made me wonder what made this hurricane so special. I learned that not only was the Galveston Hurricane the deadliest natural disaster in America’s history, but it also showed what happens when we try to ignore the power of nature.

I enjoyed this story’s 1900’s historical setting. I like reading about what people did for entertainment before iPhones and television. Magicians were a big deal back then, and Harry Houdini was just getting his start.

Thankfully, a map of Galveston Island is included, which was very useful because I had a hard time picturing the island based on the descriptions alone.

The beginning of these ‘I Survived’ stories is almost painful to read. You spend the first half of the story knowing that something horrible is going to happen, while the characters are oblivious to the danger they are in. This story, in particular, is extra exasperating because the people of Galveston kept going on and on about how impossible it was for a big hurricane to hit their island. To be fair, this was over a hundred and twenty years ago, and scientists were just starting to understand weather science.

I don’t know what Lauren Tarshis will be writing about next. I’m hoping for another lesser-known disaster.