I Survived the Japanese Tsunami, 2011 (I Survived, #8) (2024)

I Survived the Japanese Tsunami, 2011 (I Survived, #8) by Lauren Tarshis builds this historical fictional account of the disaster felt around the world . . .the underwater earthquake off the coast of Japan that resulted in a disastrous tsunami that devastated the area north of Tokyo; many lives were lost and the damage costs quickly shot into the millions.

Visiting his dad's hometown in Japan four months after his father's death would be hard enough for Ben. But one morning the pain turns to fear: first, a massive earthquake rocks the quiet coastal village, nearly toppling his uncle's house. Then the ocean waters rise and Ben and his family are swept away-and pulled apart-by a terrible tsunami.

Now Ben is alone, stranded in a strange country a million miles from home. Can he fight hard enough to survive one of the most epic disasters of all time? Another well-written and interesting account of one of the worst disasters in recent history.

Ben, Harry, and their mom, went and visited Shogahama, Japan. They would stay with their dads uncle, Tomeo (Ojisan is what they called him). Sadly the dad had dies 6 months ago, it was hard for Ben to go to Shogahama, where his dad used to live. At 2:40 p.m. on March 11, 2011 there was a earthquake, after that had happen everyone was outside. They thought they were safe and it was over, but coming there way there was a tsunami. Ben alone is the tsunami was scary for him, after the water went down, and back to the ocean, Ben went to the Shogahama Elementary School, after a day or so he saw Harry,mom, and Ojisan. They went back home on March 25th 2011. Ojisan stayed back at home.
Over all this book was fast to read, but a really good book. The writer Lauren Tarhis put in good detail and description.

My 2nd grader LOVES this series, and I have to admit I do too. Tarshis provides a wonderfully sensitive portrayal of historical events that may not be widely discussed among families. Her books have taught my son and I both a lot about these disasters and prompted great conversations about tragedy, loss, and death of loved ones. Highly recommended for young grade schoolers!

I read "I survived Japanese tsunami." This was better than I thought it would be. It's very short and the writing is nothing special, but it did give a good idea of what it would be like to experience an earthquake and tsunami, and it does give good historical details about this particular disaster.

While on their vacation, Japan is hit with the strongest earthquake and tsunami it has ever seen, and Ben is separated from his family by the furious and destructive wave that knocks over buildings and sweeps away cars and boats. As he struggles to survive and find his family again, Ben realizes that his father's advice and love are still with him, always.

Ben is an independent kid that is now quiet. Ben is having an extremely hard time with his father's death. Harry, Ben's little brother is still confused with his fathers death, and thinks that his dad is still going to come home. Ben's mom is a very strong woman who was in the air force with their dad.

Ben, his little brother, Harry, and their mom are visiting Ben and Harry's uncle in Shogahama, Japan. Shogohama is a tiny little fishing town on the coast. The town is very quiet and quaint. Ben should be enjoying the beautiful surroundings that are so different from his California home, but nothing has made him feel happy since his dad died recently.

I would recommend these books for elementary and maybe middle school students Of all genders. They would appeal to readers who like action, adventure, history, true stories, disasters, or survival stories.

While this was not targeted towards my particular age group, I thought this was an enjoyable read in the sense that the main character Ben goes through a great deal of development over the course of the story and it also gives an account of what it would have been like to live through that tsunami and earthquake.

Personal response: I enjoyed reading The Japanese Tsunami, because it told you what it was like to be in a tsunami. This book was hard to put down, and I am not that much of a reader. This is also a series, and I will read the next ones too.

Plot: The book is about a young teenage boy who with his family get caught in a tsunami. It explains what it was like for him after it happened. Ben lost his mother, brother Harry, and his uncle in the tsunami. When he makes it out of the water, he starts walking to a school on the hill.

Characterization: Ben was the main character in the book. Ben is a young boy and is from California. Ben liked to play basketball. They took a trip to Japan to visit their uncle. When they were there the tsunami hit.

Setting: The Japanese Tsunami took place in Japan 2011. The town was next to the ocean. The time period is important because they could still be cleaning up from this disaster.

Recommend: I would recommend The Japanese Tsunami to fifth grade and beyond, because it deals with what happens after a tsunami. It is something that can really happen. Both male and females could read this. I give this book a four out of five stars.

The first part where the earthquake comes, is foreshadowing to whats going to happen next.

Ben was in Japan visiting relatives when a strong earthquake struck his uncle's house. That was just the beginning soon a tsunami would hit and take out everything in his sight. They tried to drive off in a car but that didn't work. They got separated for a while. They have been separated until they reunited. Guess how?

I liked the book “I Survived the Japanese Tsunami, 2011. I like how in the book he told the reader how he felt, even though he always wanted to act tough to his brother. I just like how the book was legit in the emotions that he used.

At the start of book he is at his Uncle's house in Japan when all of a sudden an earthquake hits. Ben knew he had to do something to get him and his little brother to safety. Ben and his little brother sneak under the bed just in time, then the roof collapses. They thought they were in the clear, but then all of a sudden is it smoke? Is it a ship on fire? no it's a tsunami. So they hurry to get out of its way, but it’s too late; it is upon them. Ben's mom, uncle, and his little brother are swept away. He is left stranded in the cold with no food, no shelter, and no dry clothes.

Ben, the main character, was a little soft because his dad died. Yet he was strong because he had to be there for his little brother. Harry, Ben's little brother, was the typical annoying little brother and he always had something adventurous to do. Ben’s mom was emotional because she lost her husband, but she was also tough because she was in the military.

The significance of the setting is that the book took place in Japan in a place by the ocean, and took place during the tsunami. It was cold so they couldn't be outside, wet, and without heat for long.

I would recommend this book to boys and girls from fifth grade to eleventh grade. I would recommend this book because it teaches that not all the information your parents say doesn't mean anything. Some of the information should be taken into consideration. Also that you should love on your parents and siblings while you still have them.

Personal Response- I Survived The Japanese Tsunami, 2011 was an interesting book to read. It gave the reader ideas into what an actual tsunami would be like. I feel going through something like this would change a person forever.

Plot- It started off by telling about Ben's dad who died in a F-16 fighter jet when he was in the war. Ben and his family were going to visit Japan. They were going there to visit the place his dad was born and raised until the age of 10. They were there a week and a huge earthquake hit. After the earthquake hit, they saw a big tsunami coming right for them. After they saw the humongous wave, they jumped in the car. They did not beat the wave, but outlived the tsunami.

Characters- The main characters were: Ben, Nya, Mom, Harry, and Ojisan. Ben was who the story revolved around. Harry was Ben's brother, Nya was his sister and Ojisan was his uncle.

Setting- This story started out in Shogahama, Japan. It was a flashback to what happened that day. Then it switched to the real action of the tsunami. On March 11, 2011, a tsunami hit Japan with a huge wave off the coast of the Pacific Ocean. In the middle of the tsunami, the family was split up. They went through a lot to find each other, so they can return to California. California was where they were living before going to Japan.

Recommendation. I would recommend this book to anyone in ninth grade and above. It was an interesting book, and I just wanted to keep reading it. It gave an insight to what one would actually be like. I say both girls and boys would enjoy it. I gave it a five out of five stars.

Personal response
I survived the Japanese Tsunami was a great read for me because it made me understand how bad a tsunami can really be and how hard it can be to survive.

plot
The plot of the story is for Ben to make it back to the mainland when the water starts to recede and he has to find his family to know if they survived. The tsunami is the main event that took place and caused the most damage to where they lived.

Characterization
The main character's name is Ben and he is moving to where his dad lives. The home place where he lives is Japan. The second character is Ben's mother and she wants to move to Japan. So then Ben and his brother can see where they came from and how their dad lives there and also on how others live there.

Impacts of Setting
The story takes place in the summer of 2011. A massive earthquake shook Japan then a couple seconds later a huge tsunami smashed in the the coast.

Recommendation I would recommend the I Survived The Japanese Tsunamifor 12-18 year old's that like to read the I Survived series because I really enjoy reading them myself and they might enjoy them to.

Compelling as usual. I was surprised that for this I Survived story, we did not get to witness it from the perspective of someone from Japan, and instead from a boy who was visiting Japan. I suppose I shouldn't have been as surprised as I was that the main character isn't from Japan, but whatever, there we are.

This book came out in late August and I just finished it, in mid-November, about a week after a typhoon barreled through the Philippines and destroyed Tacloban, killing thousands of people. I'm sure kids will be clamoring for this title (as with all of the I Survived books) but I can't help but wonder when we'll get an I Survived about Tacloban... While I thought this was a pretty realistic representation of the events that occurred in Japan two years ago (though what do I really know?), part of me thinks that maybe it was too soon to tackle this one.

Ben is a military kid whose dad recently died. Now it is him, his mom, and his brother Harry. They are always traveling around from base to base but they finally got cut break to go see there uncle in Shogahama. They have had a pretty great trip so far but then a very powerful earthquake strikes and almost destroys his Uncle's house. After the earthquake they walk out side, look at the ocean, and see a massive wall of water heading straight for the town. Does Ben have what it takes to survive the Japanese Tsunami of 2011?
I really liked this book because I was always wondering how he and the rest of his family rejoice. It made me feel kind of sad thinking about how many people didn't survive. Anyone who likes action books that can be sad at times or books like The Hunger Games would enjoy reading this book.

This book, I Survived: The Japanese Tsunami, 2011, is a book about Ben and Harry from California taking a trip to their uncle’s house in Shogahama, Japan, only to be stuck in one of the most epic tsunamis of all time.

I really liked this book. Lauren Tarshis, the author of this series, has a power to sweep you in her story. This edition was no different. I could practically feel the fear with Ben as he was in the earthquake. I could feel the intensity of the situation when the tsunami hit. When they tried to out-drive the wave in their car. And when they were torn apart by the tsunami. Spoiler: They find their way and re-unite, all of them in one piece. All in all, this is a GREAT book, and I highly recommend it.

In this book there is a boy named Ben and he visited his dads hometown in Japan. It was really hard for him because his dad had past away four months ago. One day there was a really big earthquake. His uncles house almost fell down. Then a giant wave came and swept away there family none of them knowing where anyone is so Ben is star dad by himself. Do u think he can service by him self? My favorite part is when he seen his brother harry running towards him. I recemend this book to people that like adventure

This book was an amazing story about a boy and his brother who travel to japan to visit his grandpa and, on a normal day a massiv sunami comes out of no where. This book tells about what happened in japan in 2011. I thought i was histoicly acuret and i would recomend tbhis book to any body who likes history.

Great read for preteens, teens, and readers of all ages.

read to my little brother but i’m counting it😌

Great book... full of facts

I liked the book because one earthquake led to a tsumami witch led to a nuclear reactor explosion that's crazy. Overall it was a great book.

Name: Fabian Gonzalez

Book title I Survived The Japanese Tsunami, 2011

Personal Response

I liked this book because it was entertaining and it was also interesting. I liked this book because it was historical fiction and it has a lot of actions parts. I liked this book because it was short.

Plot Summary
Ben’s family went to Shogahama, Japan for vacation because his father used to live there. His dad died years ago in a battle. He served in the military. It was night time. Ben and his brother were in bed, then an earthquake started hitting. They quickly went under the bed. A few minutes later the earthquake stopped. They thought they were safe but a Tsunami was coming.
They jumped into the car and tried to escape but the tsunami was really fast. Ben got stuck in the car. His mom and his brother got sucked out of the car by the tsunami. He broke the glass and he stepped on a wood piece and a cat appears. Ben helped the cat by putting it on his shoulders.

It was very cold Ben couldn't feel his legs. He laid on the ground because he was weak after trying to escape from the tsunami. He closed his eyes. Then, he felt someone grab him. He woke up and he was in a school with people who were in the tsunami. Hours later his mom was there. Finally, they went back to California. All the people worked to rebuild Shogahama.

Recommendation
I recommend this book to everyone. I would recommend this book to both genders and people of all ages. This book will be good for people who like action.

Ben, his little brother Harry, and their mom are visiting Ben and Harry's uncle in Shogahama, Japan. Ben should be enjoying the beautiful surroundings that are so different from his California home, but nothing has made him feel happy since his dad died recently. Harry makes a wish that their dad will return, but Ben knows that he's gone forever. Suddenly, Japan is hit with the strongest earthquake and tsunami it has ever seen, and Ben is separated from his family by the furious and destructive wave that knocks over buildings and sweeps away cars and boats. As he struggles to survive and find his family again, Ben realizes that his father's advice and love are still with him, always.

This was better than I thought it would be. It's very short and the writing is nothing special, but it does give a good idea of what it would be like to experience an earthquake and tsunami, and it does give good historical details about this particular disaster. The book is a quick page-turner, and I can see why this series is so popular with kids who like action, adventure, and true stories.

I would recommend these books for grades 2-5. They would appeal to readers who like action, adventure, history, true stories, disasters, or survival stories. Two readalikes for the whole I Survived series might be the You Choose (Can You Survive...An Interactive Survival Adventure) series (by various authors) or the Titanic series and Island series, both by Gordon Korman.

Ben, Harry and their mother went to japan to see their uncle. Harry falls out of the cherry tree and had to get stitches. Ben and harry were in a room relaxing when the whole ground started to shake, they hid under the bed till it was over and when it was his mom and his uncle came and got them out. They went out side when they saw something it just look like fog but his uncle really new it was a tsunami they got in the car and started driving away from it but it was to fast and it swept out them all and he ended up with some people but they were not his family but in the end they found each other.

If you are in a scary situation than you can take a deep breath and take a second to calm down and think, because it could stop you from making poor designs and that can really help you if you are in a tight situation cause one design could cause you life or death and one deep breath to calm down can do a lot more than you think it can do.

I liked how this book gave a lot of detail. And it was a good fun book to read. I would recommend this book to younger kids because it was way easy and short to read. I did not like that it got boring in some parts and it just got hard to read case it wasn't very interesting, it would like just have a part that wasn't that interesting to me.

This book is about one family trying to survive the tsunami in Japan of 2011. The main character, Ben, must face a lot of challenges emotionally and physically like when Ben was trying to escape a car that had sunken underwater so he had to break a window. The author of this story shows the emotions Ben and his family are feeling when she is telling the story. The author also conveys the message of taking a deep breath and think before you do something Ben also learns this lesson throughout this story. I think young readers would love this book because the book shows that people can be scared about something, but they need to do something if they want to “survive”.

I like this series. It takes true events and makes them interesting. The factual information is correct. It's just the dialogue and character that are invented. I read this easily in one sitting and was motivated by the narrator to do so. It did seem a little overly optimistic, but this allows the book to reach a wider audience by not scaring some readers. I love that my students enjoy these books.

In this book the main character is visiting family in Japan. He gets separated from them in the tsunami after helping keep his brother safe in the earthquake.

I real like this book and the whole series of these books. It's a little bit of history and action. While on their vacation, Japan is hit with the strongest earthquake and tsunami it has ever seen, and Ben is separated from his family by the furious and destructive wave that knocks over buildings and sweeps away cars and boats. As he struggles to survive and find his family again, Ben realizes that his father's advice and love are still with him, always.

“I Survived the Japanese Tsunami,” by Lauren Tarshis, is an astonishing story about a boy named Ben who survived the 2011 tsunami. An earthquake created the tsunami that separated Ben from his family. Like in most of the books in the “I Survived” series, Ben’s dad died a few months before the tsunami. That didn’t stop him from surviving the great wave. Ben has a cat named Nya that helps him not feel alone.

My son and i read this together. 😀

My 7 yo loved it. Says it had just the right amount of suspense

I Survived the Japanese Tsunami, 2011
Personal Response
I really like I Survived the Japanese Tsunami, 2011 by Lauren Tarshis because it is about a natural disaster that I didn’t know much about before. I like that it has real facts from the disaster in it. One thing I don’t like, is that the book doesn’t talk about how they rebuild all the cities after they are destroyed.

Plot Summary
I Survived the Japanese Tsunami, 2011 starts with a Japanese American kid named Ben going to visit his uncle in Japan with his family. Ben’s dad grew up there, but his dad just died. He is very depressed the whole time he is in Japan and doesn’t appreciate being there like the rest of his family does. Then the earthquake hits. Ben is in his room and all of a sudden the whole house starts shaking. He hides under the bed and saves himself from the falling roof. His mother gets him out of the rubble and the family goes outside so the rest of the house doesn’t collapse on them. Then his uncle looks out to sea and sees a massive wave about a mile out that is headed towards shore. They all jump in the car and drive inland as fast as they can. The wave catches up to them and Ben gets separated from his family. He floats on a mattress and climbs up a tree to avoid the 20 feet of water that now covers the ground. He then makes his way to a school where there are other survivors. He waits there until his family finally comes.

Characterization
Ben is an average kid at the beginning of I Survived the Japanese Tsunami, 2011. He is just on vacation with his family but then the earthquake hits and messes the whole thing up. He then has to fight for his survival using his instincts. This makes me feel like he is the protagonist because he is just trying to have a decent vacation until the earthquake happens.

Mother Nature is the reason his visit to Japan gets so messed up. The earthquake and tsunami destroyed the whole town and almost took his life. This makes me feel like Mother Nature is the antagonist because she destroys everything and almost kills everybody.

Setting
I Survived the Japanese Tsunami, 2011 takes place in Japan. This area is completely surrounded by water and lies on a major tectonic plate fault line. Because of this, there are a lot of earthquakes, and they last a couple of minutes when the average ones only last a couple of seconds. Because the island is surrounded by water and there is a fault line there, it is easy for a tsunami to be formed and destroy a lot of the cities there.

Recommendation
I recommend this book to people who like to learn about natural disasters because it has a lot of real facts from the tsunami in it. In the back of the book, there is a big list of facts about this tsunami so I feel that it is an interesting way to learn about this disaster. I would also recommend this book to middle schoolers and higher because it was an easy book to read.