I Survived (Book Series)
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50 free I Survived (Book Series) trivia questions with answers — literature quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
The I Survived books drop an ordinary kid into a real catastrophe and ask how anyone got out alive. Each story is short, fast and built on careful research, which is why the series is a fixture of classroom libraries and reading lists. This quiz follows the books readers ask about most: the Titanic, the Hindenburg, the American Revolution, the September 11 attacks, Hurricane Katrina, Pompeii, the Children's Blizzard, the Joplin tornado and the grizzly attacks, along with the True Stories collections Five Epic Disasters and Tornado Terror. Some questions test what happens to the characters, and others cover the true history behind each plot. It works as a comprehension check after finishing a book, as practice before a reading quiz at school, or as a challenge for anyone who has read the whole shelf.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01In I Survived the Sinking of the Titanic, 1912, what is George searching for below decks when the iceberg strikes?
A mummy
A mummy is only a rumor George hears on board, but he cannot resist sneaking down to the baggage compartment to look, and he is there when he hears a terrible crash.
Q 02Which safer gas could the airship in I Survived the Hindenburg Disaster, 1937 not get from the United States?
Helium
Helium cannot burn, but nearly all of it came from America, which banned its export, so the giant airship flew on flammable hydrogen instead.
Q 03What are the soldiers King George hired from Europe called in I Survived the American Revolution, 1776?
Hessians
Hessians came mostly from the German states of Hesse-Kassel and Hesse-Hanau, and Nate slips past them by putting on a fallen soldier's green coat and helmet.
Q 04Which sport, taught to him by his Uncle Benny, does Lucas love in I Survived the Attacks of September 11, 2001?
Football
Football is everything to Lucas until his parents rule it too dangerous, so he skips school and heads into New York City alone to ask Uncle Benny for help.
Q 05Which city, much of it below sea level, is home to Barry Tucker in I Survived Hurricane Katrina, 2005?
New Orleans
New Orleans is ringed by water, and when Barry's little sister Cleo falls sick the Tuckers have to ride out the storm at home in the Lower Ninth Ward.
Q 06Which volcano, looming above the city, erupts in I Survived the Destruction of Pompeii, AD 79?
Vesuvius
Vesuvius sent warnings for days, including many earthquakes and terrible smells, but people in the city did not know it was an active volcano.
Q 07Which Montana national park is the setting of I Survived the Attack of the Grizzlies, 1967?
Glacier
Glacier had never recorded a deadly grizzly attack until one night in August 1967, when bears killed two young women in separate parts of the park.
Q 08What is John Hale's prairie home built from in I Survived the Children's Blizzard, 1888?
Sod
Sod, strips of dirt and grass peeled up from the ground and chopped into blocks, forms the walls of the family's "soddy"; only the door and roof are wood.
Q 09The mile-wide twister in I Survived the Joplin Tornado, 2011 struck a real city in which US state?
Missouri
Missouri's city of Joplin was hit on May 22, 2011, by a tornado up to a mile wide that stayed on the ground for 38 minutes.
Q 10Which author, also a longtime classroom magazine editor, writes the I Survived series?
Lauren Tarshis
Lauren Tarshis spends about a year writing each chapter book, while each graphic novel adaptation takes two years, most of it the artists' work.
Q 11After passing over New York City, in which state does the airship try to land in I Survived the Hindenburg Disaster?
New Jersey
New Jersey is home to the Lakehurst airfield, where a line of thunderstorms forces the zeppelin to head back out to sea before its final, fatal approach.
Q 12Radio reporter Herbert Morrison made which cry famous at the real crash behind I Survived the Hindenburg Disaster?
Oh, the humanity!
"Oh, the humanity!" was Morrison's sob of grief as the airship burned, and NBC, which had never aired a recording before, made an exception for his report.
Q 13Why does Hugo sneak into the cargo hold in I Survived the Hindenburg Disaster, 1937?
To fetch the family dog
Q 21Which deadly wartime disease does Nate help James recover from in I Survived the American Revolution, 1776?
Smallpox
Smallpox spread so quickly through the camps that in 1777 the army's commander required his troops to be inoculated against it.
Q 22What kind of outlaw is Slash O'Shea, star of the stories Nate's father told in I Survived the American Revolution, 1776?
A pirate
A pirate who ran away from an orphanage at ten and found work on a ship, Slash O'Shea gives Nate the idea of escaping to sea himself.
Q 23What does Nate give Eliza and Theo after inheriting his uncle's property in I Survived the American Revolution, 1776?
Their freedom papers
To fetch the family dog is the plan: Panya will cheer up his sick little sister Gertie, but down there Hugo catches a passenger taking an envelope from a crate.
Q 14What puts out the flames on Hugo after he jumps from the burning airship in I Survived the Hindenburg Disaster, 1937?
Burst water tanks
Burst water tanks drench him as the airship hits the ground, and the same thing saved a real survivor, 14-year-old cabin boy Werner Franz.
Q 15From which German city does Hugo's family take off for America in I Survived the Hindenburg Disaster, 1937?
Frankfurt
Frankfurt was the starting point of the real flight too, which was meant to be the first of ten round trips to the United States planned for that year.
Q 16Which battle, the largest of the whole war, does Nate survive in I Survived the American Revolution, 1776?
Brooklyn
Brooklyn gave its name to the fight also known as the Battle of Long Island, after which the beaten American army escaped to Manhattan by night, hidden by fog.
Q 17Which general commands the American army in I Survived the American Revolution, 1776, though Nate's uncle despises him?
George Washington
George Washington is hated by Uncle Storch because Storch sides with England and is not rooting for the Americans to win the war.
Q 18Which ship rescued the survivors of the real sinking retold in I Survived the Sinking of the Titanic, 1912?
Carpathia
Carpathia steamed through ice fields in the dark and its crew pulled more than 700 people from the lifeboats; six years later a German submarine sank it.
Q 19George meets the ship's designer in I Survived the Sinking of the Titanic, 1912; who was that real shipbuilder?
Thomas Andrews
Thomas Andrews went on maiden voyages with a team of workers to spot improvements, and he died with more than 1,500 others when the great liner went down.
Q 20Which instrument does Barry's dad play along with the howling wind in I Survived Hurricane Katrina, 2005?
Trumpet
Trumpet notes turn the wind into a song instead of wolves or ghosts for Barry, and after the storm a famous music college in New York City offers his dad a job.
Their freedom papers lift the fear that hangs over the story: earlier Nate took the blame for a stray stick so that Storch would not sell young Theo.
Q 24Which scale rates the strength of twisters like the one in I Survived the Joplin Tornado, 2011?
Enhanced Fujita
Enhanced Fujita ratings run from zero to five according to the damage a tornado leaves behind, and the real Joplin storm earned the top mark, EF5.
Q 25In I Survived the Joplin Tornado, 2011, Dex's older brother Jeremy serves in which elite military unit?
Navy SEALs
Navy SEALs earn a trident pin, and Jeremy once let Dex take his to school; only 23 of the 118 men in his training class passed.
Q 26What do Dex and his dad rescue from the wrecked storm-chasing SUV in I Survived the Joplin Tornado, 2011?
A hailstone
A hailstone kept in the SUV's mini freezer might hold a clue to how tornadoes work, so Dex puts it back instead of smashing it in anger.
Q 27I Survived True Stories: Tornado Terror pairs the Joplin storm with which 1925 twister, the deadliest in US history?
Tri-State
Tri-State is the name given to the 1925 tornado because it tore across parts of three states in under four hours, killing 695 people.
Q 28What job do Lucas's dad and his best friend Uncle Benny share in I Survived the Attacks of September 11, 2001?
Firefighters
Firefighters at Ladder 177 each have a job to do, which is what Lucas's dad likes most: if you don't work together, he says, you don't put out the fire.
Q 29Which injury, his third, makes Lucas's parents ban his favorite game in I Survived the Attacks of September 11, 2001?
A concussion
A concussion is what sends Lucas to see Uncle Benny that morning, and the two are still talking it over when a low-flying plane screams overhead.
Q 30What is the name of the fierce-looking dog Barry rescues from the flood in I Survived Hurricane Katrina, 2005?
Cruz
Cruz has a killer's reputation, but when Barry unhooks his leash the dog leaps up and licks him as if to say thank you.