"I Survived the Shark Attacks of 1916" by Lauren Tarshis

I've mentioned before that I am a fan of books that bring history to kids.  Well, Lauren Tarshis' I Survived the Shark Attacks of 1916 brought history to me!  I had not heard of this event in history and after reading this book I did some research on my own.  It was very interesting to learn about a piece of history that I had not been aware of.

Chet lives with his uncle in New Jersey.  His parents have traveled looking for work and plan to send for him once they have settled somewhere   Until then, Chet fills his time working for his uncle.  But this summer is very hot and he and the other local boys spend a fair amount of time in the nearby creek.  At first no one believes the stories of shark attacks- there's no way that a shark has come this far away from the ocean.  But it soon becomes clear that no one is making up these stories and the water is no longer safe.

This is exactly what I want from this sort of book.  I want to be inspired to find out more.  I can see this book having a lot of appeal to young readers and highly recommend it.  Along with this book, I recommend access to research.  I really wish this series had been around when I was younger, I would have read them all!  Actually, even now I want to read them all...



Happy Reading!
-Melly