I have always been curious about this series. There are 17 books in the I Survived series, each relating a fictional story about characters involved in all sorts of historical events and disasters. The books cover many different events ranging from the more modern (9/11) to events way back in history (The Destruction of Pompeii in 79 AD). I Survived the Battle of Gettysburg is the 7th book in the series. Each book is a stand alone story, so it isn't necessary to read the series in order.

The basics: Thomas and his little sister are slaves on a southern plantation. In order to avoid being sold like his older brother, Thomas and the little girl run away from the plantation. They are scared that slave hunters will find them and that they will be severely punished for running away. But, they run into Union Army soldiers and go with them. But, they aren't safe. The soldiers are preparing for a big battle at Gettysburg, PA. The story relates what Thomas and his sister saw and experienced during the big battle that killed more than 20,000 men.

I listened to the audiobook version of this story. It's a quick listen at just under 1.5 hours in length. Mia Barron narrates. She reads at a nice pace and has an easily understood voice with good inflection. I have hearing loss but was easily able to hear and understand her. After the story about Thomas and his sister, there is an afterward from the author, Lauren Tashis. She talks about how she researched the battle for this book and she shares some information about the civil war and the battle. Also included is a reading of the Gettysburg address. I am impressed. Much research and thought went into this book, and it's a great educational tool for use with students or kids at home. The language and explanations are age appropriate, and the story relates the battle in terms that children will understand. The cover art is wonderful!

I can't wait to read more of this series! This was an interesting and very well-written fictional account of the battle. ( )

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The book is about a boy named Thomas and his little sister Birdie who are slaves for Mr.Knox in the oak ridge, Virginia. Three weeks earlier in the afternoon they disappeared into the shadowy forest to run from there slave owner. They were captured and saved by a Yankee soldier named Henry who is a soldier for the north. Thomas didn't know much about the war but that the north and south were fighting. Thomas and Birdie were taken to travel with the Yankee soldiers. Birdie was captured by the rebels and Thomas wasn't going to travel on without his little sister so he went to trade himself for her freedom. The union came to safe them both by beating the rebels up. Then they continue on their journey to Gettyburg were the war as already started and they were late showing up. The war went on and Henry told Thomas that if anything happens to him he wants him and his sister to go live with his wife in the north away from slavery. Thomas gets hurt trying to bring more weapons to the solider up on the hill but ends up in the hospital and finding out Henry didn't make it. Thomas and his sister Birdie moved to live with Henrys wife like they promised they would and learned to read and write in a school. This shows that Slavery was a big problem back then that North and South States didn't agree with each other. North didn't believe in slavery at all like the South did. We need to understand that it doesn't matter what color you our at all because we are all the same in different ways. This is a good book to have in your classroom for your students to read because it shows them what it was like back then during war time and they everyone is equal no matter what color they are. ( )