I Survived: The Great Chicago Fire, 1871 by LaurenTarshis by Marissa Posada

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Justification: I chose this book because it is a part of a popular series. According to Goodreads this series allows students to learn about various time periods in an easy to accomplish book. Therefore it allows student a chance to learn and feel accomplished for finishing a whole book. These are great to have for those reluctant readers and it is a high interest book. I have also been curious about what happened in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, and this was a good opportunity to get more information.

Evaluation: This book had many instances of figurative language. A lot of the figurative language had to deal with the fires in Chicago. The flames were a beast, "were lapping at... Main St.," and "the fire quickly danced." These are just a few examples of the figurative language used to describe how the fire was perceived by Oscar. Another example is how Oscar felt when they found a water barrel during the fire. "Oscar felt like a stalk of wheat, shriveled in the boiling sun." That sentence really shows the reader how hot and dry Oscar felt after trying to escape the many fires in Chicago.

This book has an unexpected insight. Oscar is upset that his mother remarried a man who lives in Chicago. When Oscar's father was dyeing, Oscar promised him that he would look after the farm. At the beginning of the book Oscar says that he is breaking that promise, but his mother says that Oscar's father just wanted them to be happy. After the ordeal of the Chicago Fire and all of the horrors, Oscar realizes that he can keep his promise and agree with what his mother said. Mr. Morrow, Oscar's stepfather had painted several pictures of Oscar's farm, that was how he met Oscar's mom. So Oscar could 'watch over the farm' through the paintings and his mother could be happy as well.

This book does not have a lot of examples, but has a poignant example of understatement. It makes sense that there was a lot of chaos during the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. People are trying to get to safety, some are trying to save their possessions, and others are taking advantage by looting. The example of understatement is when Oscar, Jennie, and Bruno are caught in a crowd and the book says what happens in the chaos. "A woman fell and didn't get up again." We know that the woman was trampled to death. Ina crowd you have to stay on your feet or you won't make it, especially in a life and death situation.

Response: I do not have any personal experience being in that kind of chaotic situation. I have seen enough TV and movies to know that is does not end well if you fall in a crowd. It strengthened my view that I should avoid crowds. But it also challenged my view that peoplare are only out for themselves. I enjoyed the text as entertainment well enough. The time period is not my usual preference in historical fiction. It was an interesting enough read.

Conclusion: This book had some examples of figurative language, unexpected insight, and understatement. I would only give this at most two star, the story was decent enough, but there are better books. I gave two because it is a high interest book that will get reluctant readers started, and as long as kids are reading that is all that matters. I recommend this to reluctant readers, it is something they can accomplish by themselves.

APA Citation: Tarshis, L. (2015). I survived: The great Chicago fire, 1871. New York: Scholastic Inc.