| Birth Name: | Lauren Tarshis |
| Birth Date: | 23 November 1963 |
| Birth Place: | Albuquerque, New Mexico, U.S. |
| Occupation: | Author |
| Language: | English |
| Alma Mater: | Barnard College |
| Period: | 1988–present[1] |
| Genre: | Children's literature |
| Subject: | History |
Lauren Tarshis is an American author of children's books, with several series of fiction, non-fiction and historical fiction works found in thousands of libraries and translated into several languages.[2] [3] [4]
She is the author of the New York Times Bestselling series I Survived. The books, fast-paced historical fiction for kids in grades 3–5, focus on historical disasters from the perspective of a boy or girl who lived to tell the tale.
She is also the author of Emma-Jean Lazarus Fell Out of a Tree, a Golden Kite honor book for fiction and Oprah book club pick, and the sequel Emma-Jean Lazarus Fell in Love. The books are on many state lists and are often used by schools as part of anti-bully programs.[5]
In addition to writing books, Tarshis is SVP Editor-in-Chief & Publisher of the Classroom Magazine Division at Scholastic, Inc., which includes Storyworks magazine, a language arts magazine for children in grades 3-6 that she has edited for several years.
| Title | Publication date | Type | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Making of Ironweed | Non-fiction | |||
| Taking Off: Extraordinary Ways to Spend Your First Year Out of College | Non-fiction | |||
| Kate: The Katharine Hepburn Album | Non-fiction | |||
| Emma-Jean Lazarus Fell Out of a Tree | Fiction | |||
| Emma-Jean Lazarus Fell In Love | Fiction | |||
| I Survived the Sinking of the Titanic, 1912 | Historical fiction | |||
| I Survived the Shark Attacks of 1916 | Historical fiction | |||
| I Survived Hurricane Katrina, 2005 | Historical fiction | |||
| I Survived the Bombing of Pearl Harbor, 1941 | Historical fiction | |||
| I Survived the San Francisco Earthquake, 1906 | Historical fiction | |||
| I Survived the Attacks of September 11, 2001 | Historical fiction | |||
| I Survived the Battle of Gettysburg, 1863 | Historical fiction | |||
| I Survived the Japanese Tsunami, 2011 | Historical fiction | |||
| I Survived the Nazi Invasion, 1944 | Historical fiction | |||
| I Survived the Destruction of Pompeii, A.D. 79 | Historical fiction | |||
| I Survived the Great Chicago Fire, 1871 | Historical fiction | |||
| I Survived the Joplin Tornado, 2011 | Historical fiction | |||
| I Survived the Hindenburg Disaster, 1937 | Historical fiction | |||
| I Survived the Eruption of Mount St. Helens, 1980 | Historical fiction | |||
| I Survived the American Revolution, 1776 | Historical fiction | |||
| I Survived the Children's Blizzard, 1888 | Historical fiction | |||
| I Survived the Attack of the Grizzlies, 1967 | September 25, 2018 | Historical fiction | ||
| I Survived the Battle of D-Day, 1944 | January 29, 2019 | Historical fiction | ||
| I Survived the Great Molasses Flood, 1919 | September 3, 2019 | Historical fiction | ||
| I Survived the California Wildfires, 2018 | September 1, 2020 | Historical fiction | ||
| I Survived the Galveston Hurricane, 1900 | September 7, 2021 | Historical fiction | ||
| I Survived the Wellington Avalanche, 1910 | September 6, 2022 | Historical fiction | ||
| I Survived The Great Alaska earthquake, 1964 | December 2023 | Historical Fiction | ||
| I Survived True Stories: Five Epic Disasters | September 30, 2014 | Non-fiction | ||
| I Survived True Stories #2: Nature Attacks! | September 29, 2015 | True events - Non-fiction | ||
| I Survived True Stories #3 Tornado TerrorTrue Tornado Survival Stories and Amazing Facts from History and Today | February 28, 2017 | Non-fiction | ||
| I Survived The Sinking of the Titanic, 1912 Graphic Novel | February 4, 2020 | Graphic Novel - Historical fiction | I Survived Graphic Novel #1 | |
| I Survived The Shark Attacks of 1916 Graphic Novel | June 2, 2020 | Graphic Novel - Historical fiction | I Survived Graphic Novel #2 | |
| I Survived The Nazi Invasion, 1944 Graphic Novel | February 2, 2021 | Graphic Novel - Historical fiction | I Survived Graphic Novel #3 | |
| I Survived The Attacks of September 11, 2001 Graphic Novel [6] | August 3, 2021 | Graphic Novel - Historical Fiction | I Survived Graphic Novel #4 | |
| I Survived The Attack of the Grizzlies, 1967 Graphic Novel | May 3, 2022 | Graphic Novel - Historical fiction | I Survived Graphic Novel #5 | |
| I Survived Hurricane Katrina, 2005 Graphic Novel | October 18, 2022 | Graphic Novel - Historical fiction | I Survived Graphic Novel #6 | |
| I Survived The Great Chicago Fire, 1871 Graphic Novel | May 2, 2023 | Graphic Novel - Historical fiction | I Survived Graphic Novel #7 | |
| I Survived The American Revolution, 1776 Graphic Novel | September 5, 2023 | Graphic Novel - Historical fiction | I Survived Graphic Novel #8 | |
| I Survived The Battle of D-Day, 1944 Graphic Novel | April 2, 2024 | Graphic Novel - Historical fiction | I Survived Graphic Novel #9 | |
| I Survived The Destruction of Pompeii, AD 79 Graphic Novel | July 2, 2024 | Graphic Novel - Historical fiction | I Survived Graphic Novel #10 | |
| I Survived The Great Molasses Flood, 1919 Graphic Novel [7] | March 4, 2025 | Graphic Novel - Historical fiction | I Survived Graphic Novel #11 |
Lauren Tarshis has written 23 books for the I Survived series as of April 2023.[15] They are historical fiction books about children who survive different disasters throughout history, including storms, wars, battles, genocides, terrorist attacks and wild animal attacks. The tagline for the series is "When Disaster Strikes, Heroes Are Made." The books are published by Scholastic Inc.[16]
The first book in the series was published in 2010 and is called I Survived the Sinking of the Titanic, 1912.[17]
The latest book in the series was published in 2023 and is called I Survived The Great Alaska Earthquake, 1964.[18]
The next book that is going to come out on November 12, 2024 is the I Survived The Black Death.
In 2018, the first of six I Survived books in Spanish were released for the U.S. market: Sobreviví los Ataques de Tiburones de 1916(I Survived the Shark Attacks of 1916). In 2019, two more titles were released: "Sobreviví el Naufragio del Titanic, 1912 (I Survived the Sinking of the Titanic, 1912), and Sobreviví el Terremoto de San Francisco, 1906 (I Survived the San Francisco Earthquake, 1906). In 2020, a fourth title was released: Sobreviví el huracán Katrina, 2005 (I Survived Hurricane Katrina, 2005). Two more Spanish language I Survived titles released in 2021, Sobreviví el Bomdardeo de Pearl Harbor, 1941 (I Survived The Bombing Of Pearl Harbor, 1941) and Sobreviví los ataques del 11 de septiembre de 2001 (I Survived The Attacks Of September 11, 2001). [19]
Tarshis has also written 3 non-fiction books for the I Survived True Stories spin-off series, featuring some of the real events that the I Survived historical fiction books are based on. "I Survived True Stories #1: Five Epic Disasters." was released in 2014 and was followed in 2015 by "I Survived True Stories #2 Nature Attacks!," and by "I Survived True Stories #3 Tornado Terror," in 2017. [20]
In 2020, two new graphic novels were released: I Survived The Sinking of the Titanic, 1912 Graphic Novel and I Survived The Shark Attacks of 1916 Graphic Novel.[21]
I Survived has been translated into ten languages including Chinese, Czech, French, Japanese, Korean, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, and Vietnamese.[22]