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Girls Survive
Noelle at Sea: A Titanic Survival Story
Thirteen-year-old Noelle feels like the luckiest girl in the world to be cruising the Atlantic aboard the famed Titanic. The trip is made even better by her new friend, Pauline, a girl who is traveling with her father to live in America. The girls spend the first days of the journey exploring, but on the fifth night, Noelle awakes to a sinking ship. Women and children will be rescued first, and Noelle realizes motherless Pauline will be left all alone. Despite her parents' wishes, Noelle breaks away from her family to find and help her friend. Nonfiction information, a gloassary, and reader response questions make up the back matter of this Girls Survive story.
112 pages, Library Binding
Published January 1, 2019
29 people are currently reading
296 people want to read
About the author
Nikki Shannon Smith
39 books36 followersI was born and raised in Oakland, CA and now live in Davis, CA with my husband and two children. I love to read, write, listen to music, dance, act silly, and visit the coast. I've worked at elementary schools for over 25 years, and love spending my days with children. My books include: The Little Christmas Elf (2011), Treasure Hunt (2019), Ann Fights for Freedom: An Underground Railroad Survival Story (2019), Noelle at Sea: A Titanic Survival Story (2019), and Charlotte Spies for Justice: A Civil War Survival Story (2019). I have two new titles releasing in 2020! The first is my new series with Capstone titled The Amazing Life of Azaleah Lane, releasing January 1st. The second is Sarah Journeys West: An Oregon Trail Survival Story, releasing February 1st.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
August 28, 2024
Great historical fiction series for middle-grade readers; I guarantee these books will get them interested in history!
The author of this one focused on the class differences that existed for Titanic passengers. The main character is biracial, so she has to endure racism as well due to her skin color, even as a second-class passenger. And, of course, the largest number of fatalities were from third-class steerage…
The author of this one focused on the class differences that existed for Titanic passengers. The main character is biracial, so she has to endure racism as well due to her skin color, even as a second-class passenger. And, of course, the largest number of fatalities were from third-class steerage…
June 16, 2019
First sentence: Noelle squinted at the water.
Premise/plot: Noelle at Sea is one of the new titles in a new series, Girls Survive. Noelle is a young French girl traveling with her parents on the Titanic. (They are second class passengers. Her father is Haitian, and her mother is French.) While on board, Noelle becomes friendly with a third-class passenger, Pauline. The two become so close that Noelle gives Pauline a few dresses. When the ship hits the iceberg, Noelle becomes concerned about Pauline's safety. Will she risk her own life to find and save her friend?
My thoughts: I checked out four of the Girls Survive series from my local library. It was a tough decision on which one to read before bedtime. I didn't want to read the one about fire, that's for sure. So I settled with the one with potential drowning. I hope to read the remaining books soon.
I liked this one well enough. I don't seek out books set on the Titanic. It doesn't matter if I know the whole 'women and children first' scenario ahead of time. It doesn't. I was not ready to see the father die. And, of course, die he does. Noelle was brave and foolish. Foolish to keep turning down opportunities to get on the life boats. Foolish to run away from her parents. But all in all brave to go in search of her third-class new-best-friend. Noelle thought that she was Pauline's one and only chance to make it off the ship. She probably was. When I read about the Titanic, I tend to get angry at a lot of people's foolishness.
Premise/plot: Noelle at Sea is one of the new titles in a new series, Girls Survive. Noelle is a young French girl traveling with her parents on the Titanic. (They are second class passengers. Her father is Haitian, and her mother is French.) While on board, Noelle becomes friendly with a third-class passenger, Pauline. The two become so close that Noelle gives Pauline a few dresses. When the ship hits the iceberg, Noelle becomes concerned about Pauline's safety. Will she risk her own life to find and save her friend?
My thoughts: I checked out four of the Girls Survive series from my local library. It was a tough decision on which one to read before bedtime. I didn't want to read the one about fire, that's for sure. So I settled with the one with potential drowning. I hope to read the remaining books soon.
I liked this one well enough. I don't seek out books set on the Titanic. It doesn't matter if I know the whole 'women and children first' scenario ahead of time. It doesn't. I was not ready to see the father die. And, of course, die he does. Noelle was brave and foolish. Foolish to keep turning down opportunities to get on the life boats. Foolish to run away from her parents. But all in all brave to go in search of her third-class new-best-friend. Noelle thought that she was Pauline's one and only chance to make it off the ship. She probably was. When I read about the Titanic, I tend to get angry at a lot of people's foolishness.
March 3, 2021
Noelle is of mixed race, half Haitian and half French, in 2nd class on the Titanic. Because of her dark skin, she and faces racism from other passengers. To her joy, she befriends Pauline who is poor and in steerage. I do enjoy Titanic books, but one setback I saw to this book was Noelle's character. She does many foolish things throughout the story often showing blatant disregard for her parents and disobeying them, to the point where I really wondered if she would actually survive the Titanic.
November 5, 2024
I think this should be in schools everywhere because I like how Noelle has a friend who is poor and no matter where she is she will always find and help her friend especially when she got herself lost because she wanted to find her friend but in my opinion I think the two most saddest parts are when Pauline’s dad wanted to drown just to meet his wife in heaven and also when Noelle’s dad had to be left behind in the sinking boat but one bad thing about it is that I don’t really like it when there are sad parts like Pauline’s dad dying and Noelle’s dad left behind
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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November 18, 2023I read Noelle at Sea: A Titanic Survival Story, written by Nikki Shannon Smith and illustrated by Alessia Trunfio for a graduate course. This book was recommended to me by a coworker who teaches 4th grade English. Noelle at Sea is part of a historical fiction chapter book series called Girls Survive. In the story, Noelle is a thirteen year old girl, whose family is traveling to America on the Titanic. Her family are second class passengers, her father is Haitian and her mother is French. Throughout the story, Noelle has several negative interactions with other passengers on the ship due to the color of her skin. Noelle also befriends a third class passenger named Pauline, who is traveling to America with her father. The pair get into trouble as they adventure around the ship. On the fifth night of their journey, Noelle wakes up to the ship sinking. When Noelle learns only women and children are being allowed on the lifeboats, she realizes Pauline doesn’t have a mother to get her onto the lifeboat. Noelle chooses to risk everything to go below deck and rescue Pauline. Luckily, the two girls are still able to make it to a lifeboat in time; however, in order to add to the authenticity of the story’s history, Noelle and Pauline’s fathers both go down with the ship. The racism and classism Noelle and Pauline experience throughout the story also adds to the authenticity of the time period. The chapter book also includes black and white illustrations that are done in a way to look like old photographs.
I would use this book with students ranging from 3rd to 4th grade. It could be taught as a whole class novel, but I think it could be more interesting to conduct literature circles including other books from the Girls Survive series. Students could read the books in groups and conduct research on the actual event from history their book is about. Students could then create presentations to share with their classmates both about their books and the actual historical event.
I would use this book with students ranging from 3rd to 4th grade. It could be taught as a whole class novel, but I think it could be more interesting to conduct literature circles including other books from the Girls Survive series. Students could read the books in groups and conduct research on the actual event from history their book is about. Students could then create presentations to share with their classmates both about their books and the actual historical event.
February 28, 2019
I've read both of the Girls Survive books by Nikki Shannon Smith and loved both titles. This is a great historical series for girls and boys to read, featuring girls who use their wits in perilous situations. Even if they're scared, even if they feel alone, even if they don't always get things right the first time. I would have devoured these when I was a girl, and younger me had great taste in books too!
July 16, 2023
Okay, I am officially in love with this series. It's a perfect mix of "American Girls" and "Dear America", and I am so excited to read all of these now.
December 7, 2021
This is the second book I have read this year that imagines the experiences of marginalized people on the Titanic. The YA novel
Luck of the Titanic
approached this historical disaster from a Chinese angle, and this book for elementary-aged readers features a main character who is part-Black. She has a Haitian father and a white French mother, and the author based this family on historical records of people who were on the Titantic.
I found this premise fascinating, and the book is much better than Luck of the Titanic, which suffered from distracting, irrelevant subplots and poorly justified character motivations. However, this book is so short that there isn't a lot of space for character development in addition to the survival story, and Noelle's bond with a passenger from steerage seems like platonic insta-love, without the girls having enough time together to develop a relationship that would carry the story in a deeper way. Noelle's behavior and dialogue also seemed overly modern at times, especially when she was disobeying and lying to her parents to spend time with her new friend.
Even though these elements weaken the story, it works well as a survival tale and shares information about the Titanic in an engaging and memorable way. The historical note at the end is great, and I appreciated the details that the author includes in the story about the Carpathia, the ship that rescued Titanic survivors from the ocean. The story continues long enough to give the rescuers' their due, and ends on a bittersweet but satisfying note.
I found this premise fascinating, and the book is much better than Luck of the Titanic, which suffered from distracting, irrelevant subplots and poorly justified character motivations. However, this book is so short that there isn't a lot of space for character development in addition to the survival story, and Noelle's bond with a passenger from steerage seems like platonic insta-love, without the girls having enough time together to develop a relationship that would carry the story in a deeper way. Noelle's behavior and dialogue also seemed overly modern at times, especially when she was disobeying and lying to her parents to spend time with her new friend.
Even though these elements weaken the story, it works well as a survival tale and shares information about the Titanic in an engaging and memorable way. The historical note at the end is great, and I appreciated the details that the author includes in the story about the Carpathia, the ship that rescued Titanic survivors from the ocean. The story continues long enough to give the rescuers' their due, and ends on a bittersweet but satisfying note.
June 15, 2022
Noelle At Sea is a heartwarming little story about a young mixed race (half Haitian, half French) girl on board the Titanic. Her father is reluctant to be socialise with others, due to the colour of his skin, leading his daughter to break the rules with two other children from third class.
The author herself states in the notes at the back, that she was curious about finding out if there were any mixed race/people of colour on the Titanic. There were only two people, Victor Giglio (Italian/Egyptian), assistant to Benjamin Guggenheim and Joseph Philippe Lemercier Laroche, a Haitian engineer, travelling in second class with his wife and two daughters. As far as I'm aware, neither man survived.
This is a very quick and short book, but may have some distressing scenes in it for the really young girls. But it is described on the back as the series is "historical stories about girls with grit", so it is really inspiring, to see Noelle fight against the prejudice and discrimination about the colour of her skin on board a ship that was predominantly white people.
It's just slightly over 100 pages, with some lovely black and white illustrations throughout, the author's note, details about the author's note, glossary and sort of reader's/class questions. The Titanic starts sinking by page 47, and it is lovely short chapters, perfect for reading at the end of a class day for teachers, or a chapter before bed. It certainly will not take long to read.
As an Titanic-fascinated-adult reading this, I am probably not the correct age group to be reading this, but thinking back, I would have loved to have read something like this as a child, as I think it would have piqued my interest in Titanic long before the film.
The author herself states in the notes at the back, that she was curious about finding out if there were any mixed race/people of colour on the Titanic. There were only two people, Victor Giglio (Italian/Egyptian), assistant to Benjamin Guggenheim and Joseph Philippe Lemercier Laroche, a Haitian engineer, travelling in second class with his wife and two daughters. As far as I'm aware, neither man survived.
This is a very quick and short book, but may have some distressing scenes in it for the really young girls. But it is described on the back as the series is "historical stories about girls with grit", so it is really inspiring, to see Noelle fight against the prejudice and discrimination about the colour of her skin on board a ship that was predominantly white people.
It's just slightly over 100 pages, with some lovely black and white illustrations throughout, the author's note, details about the author's note, glossary and sort of reader's/class questions. The Titanic starts sinking by page 47, and it is lovely short chapters, perfect for reading at the end of a class day for teachers, or a chapter before bed. It certainly will not take long to read.
As an Titanic-fascinated-adult reading this, I am probably not the correct age group to be reading this, but thinking back, I would have loved to have read something like this as a child, as I think it would have piqued my interest in Titanic long before the film.
November 20, 2024
I love titanic stories, it’s got to be one of the most fascinating pieces of history as all the events that happened seemed so shocking and unexpected, not one person surrounding it, nor boarding it, or even admirers of this great unsinkable ship ever imagined it would literary split and sink into the ocean.
I loved Noelle she was so sweet, she didn’t understand the class divide, nor did she understand the racism her father tried teaching her. She wanted to explore to see everything, wanted her friend Pauline to experience everything. She was such a kind caring girl and I enjoyed the journey with her.
This story perfectly captures the wonder of the ship, how glorious and fancy it was especially for those in first class. It shows how badly treated those that were in third class were, being trapped and uncared for due to the heavy class divide within the ship. And showing the second class you can have a great stay on board, but you still can’t touch anything from first class, but you can look at it all from afar. It was all captured so perfectly.
I really enjoyed reading this story, the titanic is a topic I will always be fascinated by and be wanting to read new books on. This one really captured the story, sharing even the scariest parts of the whole ordeal as the ship broke and sank completely. If you like the titanic, enjoy stories on it or even wanted to start sharing the story with your children, this a great one to start with.
I loved Noelle she was so sweet, she didn’t understand the class divide, nor did she understand the racism her father tried teaching her. She wanted to explore to see everything, wanted her friend Pauline to experience everything. She was such a kind caring girl and I enjoyed the journey with her.
This story perfectly captures the wonder of the ship, how glorious and fancy it was especially for those in first class. It shows how badly treated those that were in third class were, being trapped and uncared for due to the heavy class divide within the ship. And showing the second class you can have a great stay on board, but you still can’t touch anything from first class, but you can look at it all from afar. It was all captured so perfectly.
I really enjoyed reading this story, the titanic is a topic I will always be fascinated by and be wanting to read new books on. This one really captured the story, sharing even the scariest parts of the whole ordeal as the ship broke and sank completely. If you like the titanic, enjoy stories on it or even wanted to start sharing the story with your children, this a great one to start with.
January 25, 2021
A fictional story of Titanic's fateful voyage from the perspective of a girl who is part-Haitian, part-French staying in 2nd class with her family and who befriends a girl from 3rd class.
In the back of the book, the author mentions she researched if there were any people of color on the Titanic and discovered that there was a Haitian/French family of four so she decided to tell this story as if from their perspective. Noelle witnesses both racism and classism as she sees how some people treat her friend, who isn't dressed as nicely, and who treat her differently because of the color of her skin. I got a little frustrated with Noelle during the disaster and wanted to get some sense into her, though I do have to say she is a very loyal friend. Definitely a unique look at this disasterous sea voyage.
Notes on content: No language issues. No sexual content. Deaths and injuries are mentioned but not described in much detail at all.
In the back of the book, the author mentions she researched if there were any people of color on the Titanic and discovered that there was a Haitian/French family of four so she decided to tell this story as if from their perspective. Noelle witnesses both racism and classism as she sees how some people treat her friend, who isn't dressed as nicely, and who treat her differently because of the color of her skin. I got a little frustrated with Noelle during the disaster and wanted to get some sense into her, though I do have to say she is a very loyal friend. Definitely a unique look at this disasterous sea voyage.
Notes on content: No language issues. No sexual content. Deaths and injuries are mentioned but not described in much detail at all.
February 17, 2023
Noelle and her family travel on the titanic in search of America and her dad finding a new job. She finds a new friend Pauline who is in third class. They become the best of friends. Pauline lives with them in the second class spot, but they are cut. What day is she had to go back to third class. Then Noelle is look it up one way in the middle of the night by her mom when they get to the deck, everyone is screaming and crying and worried. They learned that they have hits an iceberg.
Noelle info, mom get a chance to escape the titanic on the lifeboats, but she was to find Pauline. Who is trapped in third class because their is a gate. Noelle finds Pauline and they escape on the lifeboat. Noelle’s dad is left on the Titanic. Noelle, Pauline and her mom are saved by a ship and our New York bound. Noelle says she is going to live for her dad.
Noelle info, mom get a chance to escape the titanic on the lifeboats, but she was to find Pauline. Who is trapped in third class because their is a gate. Noelle finds Pauline and they escape on the lifeboat. Noelle’s dad is left on the Titanic. Noelle, Pauline and her mom are saved by a ship and our New York bound. Noelle says she is going to live for her dad.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 16, 2021
Rating: 3.4 leaves out of 5
Characters: 3/5
Cover: 4.5/5
Story: 3/5
Writing: 3/5
Genre: Children/Historical Fiction
Type: Book
Worth?: Sure
I have read many stories about the titanic, but nothing like this. The father. I guess he redeemed some of himself with how he acted towards Pauline during the sinking of the ship.
This is the second book I have read in the Girls Survive book that has had me feeling some kind of depressed.
Characters: 3/5
Cover: 4.5/5
Story: 3/5
Writing: 3/5
Genre: Children/Historical Fiction
Type: Book
Worth?: Sure
I have read many stories about the titanic, but nothing like this. The father. I guess he redeemed some of himself with how he acted towards Pauline during the sinking of the ship.
This is the second book I have read in the Girls Survive book that has had me feeling some kind of depressed.
June 28, 2024
Rigtig fin historie, men også meget barsk at læse om forliset og folks desperation for at overleve. Lix er 25, men man skal godt nok lige være vågen på om det læsende barn er klar til så voldsom en indlevelse i ægte hændelser.
Hovedpersonen er fiktiv men baseret på en ægte familie ombord Titanic og disses skæbner (faren fra Haiti, moren fransk)
Hovedpersonen er fiktiv men baseret på en ægte familie ombord Titanic og disses skæbner (faren fra Haiti, moren fransk)
January 5, 2025
The problem with Titanic stories is that everyone wants to show the glamour of first class, but the drama and humanity and tragedy of third class. Setting the characters here in second class accomplished neither on its own, and instead only served to require a deus ex machina to show both. However, Noelle was a little protagonist and Pauline's story was moving.
June 21, 2025
Holy moly, this was sad. This is the third Girls Survive book I've read, and it's my least favorite so far mostly because it was just so sad. The illustrations don't hold a candle to the Chicago Fire book and it was more action packed than the Trail of Tears one I saw. Noelle was truly a great roll model for young girls, too. That's not always the case in middle grade books.
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June 6, 2019Noelle and her parents are traveling second class on the Titanic for a new life in America. Noelle makes a new friend while on board ship and they explore the ship. Then the fateful night happens that changes Noelle's world.
August 2, 2019
I thought the story was compelling and we loved learning the history. This book also offered our family an opportunity to discuss the meaning of race and class and how that affected Noelle. It was our first in this series and now my daughter wants to read them all.
July 2, 2022
A fictional account of Noelle and her family inspired by another family who were on the Titanic. A very moving story and account of what people experienced on the Titanic, including different classes of people depending on their wealth!
July 30, 2020
A perfect addition to my classroom. I love the way these books give kids a peek into history through a diverse lens.
April 7, 2021
Great book
June 22, 2021
Have really good memories of it
November 24, 2021
I really liked that this one was loosely based on the Laroche family that was on the Titanic. It brings up issues of racism and how ridiculous it is, and *especially* in the midst of tragedy.
December 2, 2021
Interesting fictionalized story of the Laroche family; first I have seen or read anything about 2nd class passengers on the Titanic.
January 6, 2023
10 y.o. My favorite part was when Noelle met Pauline. This book was amazing!
February 28, 2024
Scary and sad
March 10, 2020
Another fast-paced survival story in the Girls Survive series. This one is more somber than others in the series, but just as riveting. I like my early chapter books with just a bit more hope, though!
January 18, 2023
Noelle and her parents are traveling to the US in hopes of her father finding work. Her father, from Haiti, is a scientist, but the color of his skin has stopped him from finding work.
Told from the point of view of young Noelle, who sees first hand the discrimination by race and class. One of the first books I have read in this series with closure
Told from the point of view of young Noelle, who sees first hand the discrimination by race and class. One of the first books I have read in this series with closure
June 8, 2021
Ok, the things I liked about this:
- mixed race main character, with a black scientist father, based off a real family on the Titanic
-compassion, discussion of race and class -- there's a lot to get into discussion wise
Thing I didn't love:
-missing some of the depth of previous books in the series
-the illustrations are extremely cartoonish, and offputting
-the friendship between Noelle and Pauline seems unrealistic -- it's like one of those soul mate romance novels -- not that one can't immediately find a best friend, but this friendship just lacked something.
I really love this series -- in particular, I love what Nikki Shannon Smith is doing with it -- her stories keep centering Black children in history in a way that most other writers have failed to do. She's bringing visibility to the fact that not only have Black people been in this country since its founding, but they've also been active participants in most, if not all of the significant events. She backs up her fiction with really great spotlight nonfiction in the back matter, and she consistently involves lesser known historical figures in the narrative.
- mixed race main character, with a black scientist father, based off a real family on the Titanic
-compassion, discussion of race and class -- there's a lot to get into discussion wise
Thing I didn't love:
-missing some of the depth of previous books in the series
-the illustrations are extremely cartoonish, and offputting
-the friendship between Noelle and Pauline seems unrealistic -- it's like one of those soul mate romance novels -- not that one can't immediately find a best friend, but this friendship just lacked something.
I really love this series -- in particular, I love what Nikki Shannon Smith is doing with it -- her stories keep centering Black children in history in a way that most other writers have failed to do. She's bringing visibility to the fact that not only have Black people been in this country since its founding, but they've also been active participants in most, if not all of the significant events. She backs up her fiction with really great spotlight nonfiction in the back matter, and she consistently involves lesser known historical figures in the narrative.
November 16, 2021
Rate: 3
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