I Survived the Shark Attacks of 1916 Reading Level: A Complete Guide

What Reading Level Is I Survived the Shark Attacks of 1916?

Lexile 610L, ATOS 3.9, word count 10,272 — nearly identical scores to the Titanic book (Book 1: 590L, ATOS 3.9, 10,437 words), consistent with the series’ intentional format uniformity. All I Survived books are calibrated to the same approximate reading level, which makes the series ideal for building reading momentum: children who can read one can read all of them. Our assessment: grades 2–5, ages 7–12. For official scores, visit Lexile.com or AR BookFinder.

What Age Is I Survived the Shark Attacks of 1916 Appropriate For?

Ages 7–12, grades 2–5. Shark attacks occur — Chet witnesses a friend being attacked, and the back matter describes the real attacks in which four people died. The fictional survival sequences are intense but not graphically violent. Children who are afraid of sharks or who are anxious about open water should know the subject matter before starting. Common Sense Media rates the I Survived series 7+.

The Real 1916 Jersey Shore Shark Attacks

The 1916 New Jersey shark attacks are one of the most remarkable and consequential events in the history of American ocean safety. Over twelve days in July 1916, a shark attacked five swimmers along the New Jersey coast and in the Matawan Creek — four of those five attacks were fatal. The attacks were extraordinary for several reasons: shark attacks on humans were considered so rare in 1916 that many experts initially refused to believe a shark was responsible; the attack in Matawan Creek (an inland waterway, not the ocean) was completely unexpected; and the incident took place during a summer heat wave that had driven unprecedented numbers of people to the water.

The attacks generated massive national press coverage and changed American attitudes toward sharks permanently. They are the direct inspiration for Peter Benchley’s 1974 novel Jaws and the 1975 Steven Spielberg film — both of which, in turn, significantly shaped (and distorted) public perception of great white sharks for the following half-century. Tarshis’s back matter in the book addresses both the real events and the scientific understanding of shark behavior that has developed since 1916.

What Is I Survived the Shark Attacks of 1916 About?

Chet Roscow is spending the summer with his uncle in the small New Jersey town of Springfield. He’s made new friends and loves swimming in Matawan Creek on hot days. The news is full of shocking reports: a great white shark has been attacking swimmers along the Jersey Shore, killing people. Frightening, but far away — or so Chet thinks. When he spots a gray fin in the creek, he almost convinces himself it’s his imagination. It isn’t. What follows is a survival story grounded in the real Matawan Creek attack of July 12, 1916 — the most unexpected and devastating of the summer’s incidents. The back matter covers the real events, the investigation, and what science now understands about the shark behavior behind the attacks.

I Survived the Shark Attacks of 1916 Themes and Lessons

The book’s most interesting educational thread — addressed in the back matter and worth discussing with older students in the interest range — is how the 1916 attacks shaped human attitudes toward sharks in ways that were both understandable and scientifically inaccurate. The fear generated by 1916 contributed to the cultural climate that made Jaws a phenomenon in 1975, and the film’s portrayal of great white sharks as mindless killing machines contributed to widespread shark hunting that significantly depleted populations. What we now understand about shark behavior — including why the 1916 attacks happened — is considerably more nuanced than either 1916 public reaction or the Jaws mythology suggests. This is a productive conversation for children who love animals and the ocean.

Talking with your child: Why did people in 1916 have trouble believing a shark could attack someone in a creek? What does the back matter tell us about why the attacks happened? How did these real events eventually become the movie Jaws?

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About Lauren Tarshis

See our I Survived the Sinking of the Titanic guide for a full biography of Lauren Tarshis. The Shark Attacks book was published the same month as the Titanic book (September 2010) as the second entry in the series. Tarshis has noted that the 1916 attacks are among the most compelling real-event stories she has encountered — a genuine historical mystery with a cast of real characters, real consequences, and a real cultural afterlife in Jaws.