I Survived The Bombing Of Pearl Harbor

Danny is eleven years old living in New York City. He moves to Pearl City Hawaii when his Mother gets a job at the Hickam military base hospital as a nurse. She thinks it is the perfect opportunity to get Danny away from the dangerous situations he keeps finding himself in. Danny is not happy about the move. In fact, he plans to run away to New York as soon as possible. Before he can run, the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor. Danny finds himself in great danger, and must try to survive the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

This is the first book in the I Survived series that I have read. I thought it was a good way to introduce kids to historical fiction, and historical events. I really liked that the author included facts about the bombing of Pearl Harbor, a timeline of events, and a list for further reading if the reader wants to know more about the topic. It is a short story, and is easy to read.

I found out about this book from my nephew Alejandro. He and my niece Paige wanted to start a book club, and this was the first book they read together. We had some good discussions about the book, and Paige wrote a great summary for us. Here are their thoughts on the book:

Q&A With The Bookworms Book Club

How many stars out of 5 would you give I Survived The Bombing Of Pearl Harbor?

Alejandro 5 I thought it was awesome!
Paige 4 1/2

What was your favorite part of the book?

Alejandro I liked that the boy Aki knew what all the different kinds of planes were.

Paige I liked when Danny met the Sudo family, and that the officer Mack liked Danny's Mom.

Did the Story turn out how you expected it to?

Paige Kind of. I was pretty sure Danny would live because he is the main character, and they usually live. I was surprised that they had the part about the officer Mack liking Danny's Mom. I thought it would be all about Danny. 

Alejandro I read this book before, but the first time it surprised me when the soldier gave Danny his wing pin when Danny helped him.

When Danny moves to Pearl City from New York, he wants to run away back to New York. Why do you think he wanted to do that? Why did he decide not to run?

Alejandro He wanted to run back and see his best friend Finn.

Paige He was going to stowaway on a ship.

Alejandro But than the attack started and he didn't want his Mom to be sad when he was gone.

Paige And he didn't want to get hurt while the bombs were falling.

Why do you think Danny didn't wait in a safe place with the Sudos for the bombs to stop? 

Alejandro He ran towards the hospital, and bombs were falling around him. I thought why is he doing that it isn't safe!

Paige I thought it was crazy to be outside. I would start running to the nearest hiding place. Danny wanted to make sure his Mom was ok. 

Danny helps some wounded soldiers, what do you think about that?

Alejandro He tried to find his Mom, and was helping people. That was a good thing to do. I would help because it is good to help, and I want to be a doctor when I grow up.

Paige I think it was good that he helped people, but I would not want to be a doctor there! I would freak out and be afraid of killing someone. I think it would be better to be a nurse like my Mom and Danny's Mom.

Mr. Sudo was arrested because he was Japanese, what do you think about that?

Paige I didn't like it! Just because he was Japanese doesn't mean he helped with the bombing or did anything wrong. They should have to have a real reason to arrest someone. I would try to help my neighbor like Danny if I knew them, and if I knew they didn't do anything wrong.

Alejandro He shouldn't go to jail just because he drew pictures of planes. They should have evidence before sending someone to prison. It was rude to ask to search his house because he was Japanese. I liked that Danny tried to help, and that he asked his gangster friend to help. I would try to help my neighbor.

Did you know about the bombing of Pearl Harbor before you read this book?

Paige I learned a little about it in class. The book helped me understand a little more about it. The facts at the end helped too.

Alejandro Of course I did! I knew a lot about it already because I like to read about World War II, and I read this book a couple of times before. It was a refresher for me.

Did the main character Danny change at all in the book?

Paige He did change a little, but not a lot. He got in trouble a lot at first, but he became nicer.

Alejandro I thought he changed a lot. Not leaving was a big decision.

Would you recommend this book to your friends?

Paige Yeah, I think I would.
Alejandro I learned about the I Survived books from my friends, so we talk about them already. I would tell people who hadn't read them to read them.

Thank you Paige and Alejandro for reviewing this book with me. I look forward to reading and reviewing more books with you!