Book review: "I Survived: The Shark Attacks of 1916"

This is a nicely done book that combines tales of shark attacks with the anxieties a 10-year-old boy trying to make friends in a new town. I read it with my 8-year-old son and while it didn't quite make the you-can't-put-it-down category, it did prove fairly engaging for both of us.

Author Lauren Tarshis' book is tilted more toward boys than girls. Boys seem to have a natural affinity to anything related to sharks, while the parallel story of young Chet Roscow trying to make friends will probably ring familiar to them. This would be a good book for when your child starts reading novels on his or her own.

The story is mostly fictional, but it's tied to the true 1916 shark attacks that killed four people in New Jersey. There's a nice section at the end that explains the facts behind the story.

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