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Series · children's nonfiction

I Survived True Stories

by Lauren Tarshis

The I Survived True Stories series by Lauren Tarshis has 4 known books (4 published). It is best read in publication order, starting with Five Epic Disasters (2014). Courageous Creatures is the latest book with a fully recorded publication date.

Books
4 known books (4 companions)
Published
4
First published
2014
Status
hiatus
Start here: Five Epic Disasters (2014) — then read straight through in publication order.
Book one
Cover of Five Epic Disasters
Five Epic Disasters (2014)

Reading order

The date order of published books and any announced future entries — the default way to read the series.

  1. Five Epic Disasters

    Companion
    Five Epic Disasters (September 30, 2014) opens the I Survived True Stories nonfiction companion line, gathering short, illustrated real accounts of historical disasters rather than the invented narrators of Lauren Tarshis's numbered I Survived novels.
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  2. Nature Attacks!

    Companion
    Nature Attacks! followed almost exactly a year later, on September 29, 2015, matching the first volume's 176 pages with true stories built around animal attacks.
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  3. Tornado Terror

    Companion
    Tornado Terror, published in February 2017, keeps the same 176-page length as its predecessors in Lauren Tarshis's I Survived True Stories line, this time gathering several real, illustrated accounts of tornado survivors rather than a single invented narrator. Like the rest of the anthology series, it's built from historical research and firsthand testimony aimed at upper-elementary readers, and can be read independently of both its siblings and the numbered I Survived fiction series.
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  4. Courageous Creatures

    Companion
    Courageous Creatures didn't arrive until November 2021, more than four years after Tornado Terror, but held the line at 176 pages, the fourth volume in a row to do so.
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Key facts about the I Survived True Stories series

Our list has 4 books in the I Survived True Stories series. Since all 4 are out now, you can read the whole list today.

Start with Five Epic Disasters, since it opens the publication order in 2014. Nature Attacks! is book 2, from 2015. Tornado Terror is book 3, from 2017. Courageous Creatures is book 4, from 2021.

The list keeps the books in date order, while each title links to its own page. Each book page shows its dates and editions.

Courageous Creatures is the latest book with a full release date, out on 2 November 2021. The catalogue marks the series as on hiatus, so no next book has a date yet.

The books came out between 2014 and 2021. That is a run of 7 years.

Lauren Tarshis has 32 books on our list. Additionally, they write Emma-Jean Lazarus and I Survived. We shelve the books under children's nonfiction.

About the I Survived True Stories series

The nonfiction companion line to Lauren Tarshis's I Survived novels, I Survived True Stories trades fictional narrators for real kids who lived through real disasters. Each volume gathers several short, illustrated true accounts around a theme -- epic disasters, animal attacks, tornadoes, courageous animals -- built from historical research and firsthand testimony rather than the survival-adventure fiction format of the main series.

Where the numbered I Survived novels use a single invented narrator to dramatize one historical event, these books are anthology-style nonfiction: several real stories per volume, each a few pages long, aimed at the same upper-elementary readers who come to the series for disaster history but are ready for the true accounts behind it.

Frequently asked questions

How many I Survived True Stories books are there?

Four: Five Epic Disasters (2014), Nature Attacks! (2015), Tornado Terror (2017) and Courageous Creatures (2021).

Is I Survived True Stories fiction or nonfiction?

Nonfiction. Unlike the numbered I Survived novels, which use an invented narrator to dramatize one historical disaster, each True Stories volume is an anthology of several real, researched accounts of people (or animals) who survived real events.

Do I need to read I Survived True Stories to follow the main series?

No. They're standalone nonfiction companions, not required reading for the numbered I Survived novels.

Is I Survived True Stories still ongoing?

No new volume has been announced since Courageous Creatures (2021). This page marks the line as on hiatus rather than completed, since Lauren Tarshis has not declared it finished.

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