I Survived the Japanese Tsunami, 2011

Lauren Tarshis's I Survived the Japanese Tsunami, 2011 is an edge-of-your-seat survival story for 9 year olds about a boy facing a giant wave with only his dad's advice to go on.

What happens

Ben Kudo didn't want to come on this trip. It was Dad's idea, a family visit to the fishing village in Japan where Dad grew up. But Dad died four months ago, and Mum has brought Ben and his little brother Harry anyway.

Ben is eleven, and his way of coping is to shut everything out. He's given up basketball because it was their game. He's cleared every picture of Dad out of his room. He keeps finding excuses not to go for a walk with his great-uncle, in case a story about Dad comes up.

Harry is five and does things differently. He's in Darth Vader pyjamas, he's decided their great-uncle's ancient, scrawny cat is a Jedi, and he wants to climb the cherry tree to make a wish. (You can guess what the wish is.)

Then the bed starts to shake.

The earthquake is frightening enough, and it's only the start. A wall of black water comes up the street, and the family's car can't outrun it.

The heart of the book is Dad. He was an air force pilot, and Ben keeps remembering what he said about fear. Close your eyes. Breathe. Then do what you need to do. So the dad Ben has been trying so hard not to think about turns out to be the one who helps him.

And keep an eye on that cat!

Worth knowing before you hand it over

Dad's death in a car accident is backstory (you're told early on), but Ben's grief runs right through the story. The wave is properly scary. Ben sees two men swallowed by the water. He watches his own family swept away from him, and he's trapped in a sinking car. Afterwards he walks past an arm sticking out of the wreckage. For a long stretch he doesn't know if anyone he loves is alive.

For a child who's lost someone, or who worries about being separated from you, this could be a lot. If your reader likes real-life survival and doesn't mind being scared for a while, they'll be right there with Ben, counting his breaths.

What to read next

If they'd like another disaster from the same year, I Survived the Joplin Tornado, 2011 is in the library too. Dex is eleven like Ben, his big brother is away with the Navy SEALs, and he's in a car when the tornado arrives.