Titanic: Voices from the Disaster by Deborah Hopkinson
by Sam Arnold-Boyd on Aug.31, 2014, under Adventure, Non-fiction, ORCA, Sam's Reviews
Who would like this book? Readers, grades 5 and up, who are interested in what happened when the Titanic sank.
The goods on this book: To prepare for writing this book, Deborah Hopkinson conducted extensive interviews with survivors and witnesses of the Titanic disaster. Combining the riveting stories of passengers and participants with thoroughly researched information about the ship and its voyage, Hopkinson has written a book that is a must-read for anyone who is interested in the Titanic. The story follows the voyage from its departure to after its sinks from the point of view of a wide variety of 27 people: young and old; crew members; and first, second, and third class passengers. It’s a nonfiction account, so she does not embellish the stories. Her straightforward prose allows the heartbreaking, horrific experiences speak for themselves. The book is not only a riveting story of people meeting death or escaping near death, it is also an excellent presentation of the ship itself and an explanation of the facts of what happened and when. Photographs, a timeline, diagrams, statistics, the official final report from 1912, short biographies of the people in the book, a glossary, a bibliography, and an index make this book a useful tool for research. I learned so much from reading this captivating book and found that I had many misconceptions about what really happened.
This book is an ALA Best Fiction for Young Adults 2012 nominee and an ORCA 2015 nominee.
The details: 289 pages; 2012 (910.9163 Hop) Review by Samrarian
