I Survived the Eruption of Mount St Helens, 1980

Lauren Tarshis's I Survived the Eruption of Mount St Helens, 1980 is a tense, page-turning story for 7 year olds about three best friends caught in one of America's deadliest volcanic eruptions.

What happens

Jess Marlowe is eleven and lives in a tiny logging town in the shadow of Mount St Helens. She and her best friends, the twins Sam and Eddie, have a secret handshake and a motto (all for one, and one for all). They've also been dared to visit a shack in the woods where a witch called Skeleton Woman is supposed to live.

While they're there, the ground starts shaking. In the panic, Jess drops her dad's camera, which he saved for two years to buy.

The earthquake turns out to be a warning. A friendly scientist starts coming into the family diner, telling them the mountain is waking up. The story builds really well. Steam bursts from the peak, roads close, people get bored of waiting, and Jess can't stop thinking about that camera.

So when the twins' dad heads back up near the mountain one Sunday, Jess goes too. You can probably guess what happens next.

The science is woven in so naturally. Your reader will come away knowing what a pyroclastic surge is, why rotten-egg smells can be a warning, and why this lovely mountain was never really asleep. It doesn't feel like a lesson.

A plain note before you start. Jess's dad died in a car accident two years before the story, and her grief is part of the book. The scientist tells a very grim story about an older eruption where thirty thousand people died. When the mountain blows, Jess and the twins are badly hurt, and their burns are described.

For a child who's easily upset by injuries, this may be a bit much. If you've got a reader who loves real-life drama and brave kids, they'll be completely gripped (and it's really a story about friendship at its heart).

What to read next

If they finish it wanting another true disaster, I Survived the Joplin Tornado, 2011 follows eleven-year-old Dex, who's always wanted to see a tornado for real.