I found this at my summer, and if you’re into historical fiction or action-packed disaster, then this is the series for you.

Initially I thought this was a rip-off of the ultra-popular I Survived series by Lauren Tarish. They have a lot of the same premise of a kid surviving a famous or underrated event like Pearl Harbor, Pompeii, the Black Death, Mt. Helens eruption, and others, but as a friend pointed out that there are only so many historical disasters to focus on, there’s bound to be overlap. And yes, they have primarily girls as the main characters rather than guys like in I Survived. What else would you expect from a series titled Girls Survive?

But that’s where the differences end. The series started in 2019, and have over 30 books already because there are multiple authors working on them. It’s very #OwnVoices as the authors are able to impart some individuality and depth into the girls’ experiences like the Cherokee Andrea L. Rogers writing about Mary and the Trail of Tears or Mayumi Shimose Poe writing about Pearl Harbor and the subsequent impact it had on the Japanese population of Hawai’i just as it was experienced by her grandparents.

It adds a lot more diversity featuring more queer voices like Flor’s story in Flor Fights Back, a young trans girl getting to meet such icons as Marsha Johnson and Sylvia Rivera. Or the fact that Molly has two dads in Molly and the Twin Towers, which is treated as a normal occurrence rather than the focus of the book. The girls range from Chinese to Indian to Black and more. They’re not always American. Although there are some events already covered in I Survived, there are twenty more that haven’t been covered like the sinking of Lusitania, the Tulsa Race Massacre, the Chernobyl fallout, March on Selma and others.

I’ve only been able to read five of the series, but while some of them lacked in action, they made up for in exploring the emotional impact and aftermath of these events even months later. It emphasizes how once a bombing or displacement is over, it doesn’t mean it’s over. It brings a shift in perspective, maturity and heartache, yet there is a thread of resilience in there too.

It seems to be published by a minor publisher-Capstone Publishing, but I hope it reaches mainstream success.

Oh, and I wanted to note-Daisy and the Deadly Flu was published in 2020 (and probably written in 2019), you can tell it was probably before COVID hit because the author’s note talks about the last big pandemic-2001 with SARS. All I could think about was “Oh, honey. Oh honey, you have no idea.” It’s was just funny to me.

And if anyone wants to gift me some since I can’t buy 26 books at once, here are the ones I’m most interested in because I haven’t heard these events and would like to learn more.

Fumiko and a Tokyo Tragedy: A Great Kanto Earthquake Survival Story by Susan Griner

Nina Under Arrest: A Birmingham Children’s Crusade Survival Story by Anitra Butler-Ngugi

Min and the Protests: A Tiananmen Square Survival Story by Ailynn Collins
Anya Flees the Fallout: A Chernobyl Survival Story by Erin Falligant

Faye and the Dangerous Journey: An Ojibwe Removal Survival Story by Sigafus, Kim (It’s always Cherokee because of the Trail of Tears so this was news)

Tara and the Towering Wave: An Indian Ocean Tsunami Survival Story by Oxtra, Cristina

Audrey Under the Big Top: A Hartford Circus Fire Survival Story by Jessica Gunderson

Here’s a list of all the others: https://shop.capstonepub.com/Shop/s/product/girls-survive/01tVW000006KyYKYA0