Survivor Diaries: Overboard! writen by Terry Lynn Johnson, reviewed by Caroline Rabideau

Summary: Survivor Diaries: Overboard! is the first in a four part series. Set as if a reporter is interviewing him after the event, Travis tells the story of how he survived his boat capsizing off the shore of Washington state. In frigid cold water, he rescues Marina, and the two of them fight and test their survival knowledge to stay alive until they are rescued. They make their way to land, which brings a whole new set of challenges with it. Accompanied by real survival facts in the back of the book, this book will thrill any reader who is interested in adventure, survival, or the outdoors. 

Straight Talk for Librarians: My first impression of this book was that it would be simple, easy to read, and great for low readers in my middle school library. I’m always searching for books that are exciting while still being at their reading level. It met every requirement I had. The text is quite large, and the books are an easy 88 pages. Many chapters have large picture in them, and chapters are short and sweet, sometimes only being 3-4 pages long. It is packed full of action, keeping even a low reader excited to read the next page. In her every-day life, Johnson lives in Northern Canada, and teaches survival classes. Those lessons come through in her text. She uses words like condensation and solar still casually, giving quick and easy definitions for the words or accompanying them with pictures. She frequently uses the main characters to teach brief survival skills such as staying warm after you’ve been in cold water, then using them to show how they do this, and finally backing up her situations with real facts in the back of the books. Because the stories are short, there is only one main story arc, and it would be easy for low readers to follow along with. I really enjoyed these books and will not hesitate to recommend them to my middle school low readers as I believe it will challenge and captivate them.