I was almost 10 years old when Mount St. Helens erupted. I remember hearing a bit about it ... I'd been born in Washington, but had moved when I was just two years old (still, the folks had some connection). I hadn't read any of the "I Survived" books before, but picked up a bunch for the my Little Free Library, and figured I'd give one a read.

Glancing at the reviews, I think the top one by Shelia says it all ... I like historical fiction as it's often a more interesting way to learn about things, within a story, and while I always take information with a grain of salt, and try to learn more and verify things to know what is true (I really appreciate when author's tell us exactly what is fact and what they made up in author's notes). Here ... if felt wrong to suggest that the kids could have survived with just burns, simply pulling shirts over their face to breathe through the ash, were there helicopters flying looking for survivors right after? (did the author has some factual research of some people actually surviving that way that close/within 8 miles? Seems like that would have been mentioned in the author's notes. I would be very interested in knowing more about any real life survival stories) ... it just seems to defeat the purpose of "teaching" about the event to provide inaccurate information as such a key point. I feel like I learned a little, but more about volcanos in general than THIS eruption.

This was a quick and easy read. It's definitely aimed at the younger audience ... my 10 year old self probably would have really liked it more than I did (although I read a lot of YA), and thought less critically about it. The writing was very simple, basic - short chapters ending on mini-cliffhangers (which is good to keep a reluctant reader engaged). I felt like the Skeleton Woman legend was odd, didn't really fit (distracted) ... I guess there needed to be some reason for the kids to go up (and go up again).

So ... eh ... I wonder if the others are more researched and factual. I peeked at the "Further reading and learning" and put one of the books on hold. Might have to check out some articles to learn more.

Ironically - I thought I'd grab one of the "I Survived ..." series in part for a quick change between books, a male narrator (as my before and after were female MCs/narrators) ... of course I grabbed the one that had a girl MC for the first time (I didn't really look, just grabbed this...).