History is full of some really scary events. Some that are caused by nature, some by complete accident, and others by people. The I Survived series highlights quite a few of those historical events, but never like this. The Girls Survive history series covers an astonishingly broad number of historical events, some of which we’ve only ever heard about. The cool thing? All of these stories are created by authors who have a personal connection to their books in some way.
Comparing between Alice on the Island and I Survived the Bombing of Pearl Harbor, each book uniquely covers the same event. However, we see Danny’s point of view, a young white boy whose mother moved him to Hawaii from New York, versus Annie’s, a young Japanese girl whose only crime was being Japanese in Hawaii after the bombings. The fallout of both of these events are covered completely differently; Danny must survive the day and find his mother. As a bit of a spoiler, we hear how the Japanese were treated after the event. Alice, on the other hand, must survive the day, and every day after that; her father gets detained just for being Japanese and her friends turn on her for the same reason, even though she and her family had absolutely nothing to do with the attacks. We also hear about what the attacks meant for Japanese Americans along the West coast of America.
This is not to say that one series is better than another; these books show different perspectives of the exact same event in ways one may not have imagined before. It sheds new light on these historical events and teaches its readers how other kids may have felt or acted during these moments in history.
While learning about these important and nearly unbelievable moments in world history, we also get to learn about the author’s personal connection to the story they’ve written, whether it’s having personally been involved in the more recent events, having family who witnessed or were victims of these events, or even just growing up in a place where the story of what happened never truly went away.
Everywhere from the Middle Ages to just a few years ago, this series touches on some interesting and important subjects in history that are great for kids to learn about. And the best part? At the end of each of these books is a learning connection. Each book asks a series of questions called “Making Connections” that teachers can use to broaden their student’s reading comprehension, their thoughts on world history, and sometimes has them compare the events from their book to today. An example of this would be in the book Ruth and the Night of Broken Glass, wherein the Making Connections portion asks: “Early in the story, Ruth and her family try to stay calm as the environment they live in becomes more dangerous for Jews. Identify a point in the story at which their attitude shifts. What specific events contributed to this change in attitude?”
Currently, the Moline Public Library has only a handful of these books in our collection, but you can order the rest with your library card by clicking here.
Women’s History Month may be coming to a close, but History marches ever forward. If you’re interested in some more amazing moments in history and the women who made them happen, why not check out some of these other books:
- Finish the Fight by the Staff of the New York Times
- Pirate Queens: Dauntless Women Who Dared to Rule the High Seas by Leigh Lewis
- Away She Goes: Riding Into Women’s History by Wim Coleman and Pat Perrin
- Rad Women Worldwide: Artists and Athletes, Pirates and Punks, and Other Revolutionaries Who Shaped History by Kate Schatz
- A Woman in the House (and Senate) by Ilene Cooper
- Born to fly : the first women’s air race across America by Steve Sheinkin
Moline Public Library Kids 