I Survived the Joplin Tornado, 2011

“A monster EF-5 tornado was destroying the city of Joplin, Missouri. And eleven-year-old Dexter James was in its killer grip.”

The first two sentences of the novel set both the structure and tone of the whole. As in each I Survived novel, this one will bring together a historically significant event, the 2011 Joplin tornado, and a child caught in its path, Dex James. Tarshis will lay out event details in an even, steady tone that balances the potentially scary nature of the content.

“The tornado was three-quarters of a mile wide, with winds that topped 200 miles per hour. It swept away houses and blasted the wreckage thousands of feet into the sky. It tore apart schools and sent stores crashing down on the people inside. Cars flew through the air. Trucks turned into missiles. Century-old trees were ripped from the ground.”

Also from the first chapter, the above passage further demonstrates Tarshis’s matter-of-fact tone when discussing the tornado’s effects. The series was born out of feedback that children are curious about catastrophic events, so the author does not euphemize or sugarcoat. In each section of the novel, the scope of the disaster is not minimized, but the language avoids emotion and judgment, focusing instead on factual outcomes.

“Dylan and Dex had never had a fight, or even exchanged a mean look. But somehow an invisible wall had risen up between them, and Dex had no idea how to break it down.”

This passage exemplifies the attention the novel gives to the main character’s inner life, which enables young readers to connect with that character. Dex and Dylan drifting apart as they get older is a familiar experience in the transition between the end of elementary school and the beginning of middle school. In addition, this passage foreshadows later events.