How to Survive Anything: Shark Attack, Lightning, Embarrassing Parents, Pop Quizzes, and Other Perilous Situations

by Rachel Buchholz

Overview

Let's face it. With school pressures, social pressures, parental pressures...the teenage years are tough. Your best friend is with you one day, dating your crush the next. But it could be worse! You could be face-to-face with an angry grizzly, or chest-deep in quicksand. Never fear, National Geographic has the solution! In this hilariously informative take on surviving the trials of middle school and the jungles of South America, we combine our expertise on nature and adventure with the fun-and-learning approach of our Nat Geo style...and voila, the perfect advice to conquer any obstacle, whether it threatens life or social status or both. Edgy, young, authoritative, and amusingly illustrated, this title will grab the attention of young teens and gift-buyers alike.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781426307744
Publisher:	Disney Publishing Group
Publication date:	04/12/2011
Pages:	176
Sales rank:	144,350
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.60(d)
Lexile:	930L (what's this?)
Age Range:	11 - 14 Years

About the Author

Rachel Buchholz is the executive editor of National Geographic Kids and National Geographic Little Kids magazines in Washington, DC. In her more than 15 years of editing, she has found some of the world's most amazing stories about animals. She is the author of the Children's Choice–nominated book How to Survive Anything: Shark Attack, Lightning, Embarrassing Parents, Pop Quizzes, and Other Perilous Situations and a former editor at Boys' Life magazine in Dallas.

Read an Excerpt

How to Survive… A VOLCANIC ERUPTION
Volcanoes can be so rude. One minute they’re just sitting there behaving themselves, the next they’re belching and hurling all sorts of nasty stuff from their insides. And unfortunately, you can’t tell a volcano to just chill. Use these survival tips when a volcano decides to blow:
 
• Be a Magma Monitor
Just like your little sister’s annoying tantrums, volcanoes give warning signs. Scientists monitor these closely, so if you’re planning to hike a volcano, check with the U.S. Geological Survey to see if your mountain is about to become a monster.
 
• Rocks ‘N’ Roll
Volcanoes are full of surprises—dangerous ones that spew out when they erupt. If you’re caught in a hailstorm of red-hot rocks and can’t find shelter, make like a roly-poly bug: Curl yourself into a ball and protect your head and neck.
 
• Hold Your Breath
Smell that fresh air! On second thought, don’t! Erupting volcanoes emit poisonous carbon dioxide gases, so strap on your breathing mask while you look for shelter. Once you get inside, seal up all the doors and windows tight. Head for the highest floor possible, or at least stand on some fur- niture. CO2 tends to collect near the ground, so find another place besides the floor for your volcano sleepover.
 
• Surf’s Up!
That wave of lava headed your way is not going to be fun to surf on. Lava can travel at 100 to 200 miles (161 to 322 km) an hour and can reach temperatures of 2,200 ºF (1,204 ºC). Unless you want to be toast (make that burnt toast!), get out of its way—fast. A ditch or creek in between you and the lava can help divert the flow away from you.
 
• Here’s Mud In Your Eye
Then again, you may have bigger problems than superhot lava. Eruptions can trigger lahars—fast-flowing mixtures of melted snow, volcanic ash, and soil that will feel like a brick wall when it hits you. If it doesn’t boil you alive, it might make you look like a cartoon character that’s been flattened by a steamroller. Better get out of its way!

Editorial Reviews

Gr 5–9—Buchholz doles out hilarious and handy advice for suffering though both natural and man-made catastrophes. Part survival guide and part self-help book, it provides honest, tongue-in-cheek answers to questions teens may be reluctant to ask out loud, in addition to imparting disaster preparedness strategies. It's a clever, winning combination. Superb full-color digital illustrations and photographs and a lively, conversational tone will catch and keep readers' attention, and the list-heavy layout is fun to read and easy to understand. The author includes everything from avalanches and shark attacks to life's embarrassing moments. Fascinating factoids break up the text. This is a much-less-daunting read than Joshua Piven and David Borgenicht's The Complete Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook (Chronicle, 2007), but it is just as informative. Fans of Tracey Turner's Deadly Perils and How to Avoid Them (Walker, 2009) will enjoy this useful offering.—Kelly McGorray, Glenbard South High School, Glen Ellyn, IL

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