Literature Genre: Historical Fiction
Ages: 7-10 years
This book is a mini-novel about the sinking of Titanic, and helps the young mind get a grasp of what truly happened during that night. This novel is written from the standpoint of a young boy traveling in first class with his younger sister and aunt. He is a bit of a mischief maker and goes "exploring" the ship with his sister trailing behind him, when the Titanic strikes an iceberg. This begins the story within the true story.
George, the young boy, is told by Mr. Andrews, the Titanic's architect that there are not enough life boats to save every passenger on board, but that the ship is "unsinkable". Since this is a children's novel, the chaos that happens that night is downgraded, but there is still much suspense. The story depicts enough of the true story to give a child the feeling of what it must have been like aboard the Titanic on this awful night. The novel describes how life was during that period of time; showing the divisions between upper and lower-class citizens. It describes first-class women and children being put into life boats before the others, with the screaming children being torn from their father’s arms. You can sense the fear and sadness everyone experienced during this tragic event, which was devastating for all of them. The book mentions how cold the water is, and it truly was a freezing 28 degrees Fahrenheit. In the story, the front of the ship goes under first and the back rises up toward the sky; some of those still on board are screaming. The lights go dark and the Titanic sinks. All of this is true to historical fact.