Lauren Tarshis’s I Survived the San Francisco Earthquake, 1906 is a breathless real-life disaster story for 9 year olds about a newsboy who’s trying to win back his stolen gold when the ground starts to move.<\/p>\n
Leo Ross is eleven and he looks after himself. His papa died of a fever a few months ago, so Leo sells newspapers on a street corner and sleeps in a tiny basement room.<\/p>\n
What he does have is a gold nugget. His grandpop found it in the gold rush and his papa carried it everywhere. Leo would rather sell his heart.<\/p>\n
Then the two nastiest thieves in the neighbourhood take it off him in an alley.<\/p>\n
Leo’s plan to get it back is brilliant and completely daft. He’ll creep into their hideout before dawn with flour on his face and a candle under his chin, and pretend to be the ghost of a murdered man. (His grandpop once scared off a grizzly with a rattlesnake’s rattle, so why not?)<\/p>\n
It’s all going wrong when the whole building starts to shake.<\/p>\n
Then there’s Morris. He’s a younger boy from Leo’s boarding house who’s always at the public library and has a fact for everything. Leo thinks he’s a pest. Who else would sit in the middle of an earthquake explaining why the dogs were howling?<\/p>\n
Morris never shuts up, and he keeps turning up exactly when he’s needed.<\/p>\n
The story starts with the bricks already falling and then goes back a day, so your reader knows what’s coming the whole time Leo is tiptoeing about in the dark. Grandpop’s adventures are tucked inside like extra stories.<\/p>\n
It’s worth knowing how rough it gets. Leo is properly beaten up early on, with his face shoved into a wall and blood pouring from his nose.<\/p>\n
After the quake there are people lying in the street who aren’t moving. There’s a horrible moment when he thinks he’s found a friend’s head on the ground (he hasn’t, the boy is stuck in a hole). And the fires that follow can’t be put out.<\/p>\n
A child who worries about fire, or about being left on their own, might find it hard going. If yours likes a brave kid and a clever plan, it’s a cracker. This is book five of I Survived, and it stands on its own.<\/p>\n
For another city on fire, try I Survived the Great Chicago Fire, 1871. Oscar has lost his papa too, and his papa’s sheriff’s badge is stolen almost as soon as he steps off the train.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Lauren Tarshis’s I Survived the San Francisco Earthquake, 1906 is a breathless real-life disaster story for 9 year olds about a newsboy who’s trying to win back his stolen gold when the ground starts to move. Leo Ross is eleven and he looks after himself. His papa died of a fever a few months ago, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":14236,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"lr_next_read_post_id":7722,"lr_next_read_anchor":"I Survived the Great Chicago Fire, 1871","lr_seo_hook":"A stolen gold nugget, a ghost disguise and a city that shakes, then burns.","lr_series_id":374,"lr_series_name":"I Survived","lr_series_position":5,"lr_series_label":"","lr_author_order":"604"},"book_tag":[1045],"age_group":[24],"book_type":[1044],"book_author":[604],"class_list":["post-14237","our-books","type-our-books","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","book_tag-adventure-books","age_group-books-for-9-year-olds","book_type-paid","book_author-lauren-tarshis"],"yoast_title":"I Survived the San Francisco Earthquake, 1906 by Lauren Tarshis | Little Reads","yoast_metadesc":"A stolen gold nugget, a ghost disguise and a city that shakes, then burns. For ages 9+. 3,000+ books in the Little Reads app. 7-day free trial.","acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n