TITANIC: VOICES FROM THE DISASTER
By: Hopkinson, Deborah
Hopkinson knows precisely what's she doing in her coverage of the Titanic
disaster: providing young readers with a basic introduction to the event without
overdramatizing, drawing unwarranted conclusions, or prolonging the ordeal. She
begins her account as the ship embarks on its maiden voyage and, once it sets
sail, flashes back to cover its construction and grandeur as well as some of the
crew's responsibilities, which play major roles in the sinking of the ship and
the rescue of the passengers. Hopkinson also introduces her "characters," real
survivors whose voices relay many of the subsequent events. She includes crew
members as well as those traveling in first, second, and third class, showing
both the contrasts between them as the voyage begins and the horror that binds
them by night's end. In this admirably restrained account, Hopkinson covers, but
doesn't dwell upon, the foreshadowing of iceberg reports, the heartbreaking
choices in boarding the (too few) lifeboats, and the agony of those dying in the
freezing water. For interested readers who want to read in more detail,
Hopkinson includes comprehensive chapter notes, a listing of sources, and
questions to get young people started on their own Titanic quests. Archival
photographs, a timeline, a selected list of facts, short biographies of those
mentioned, excerpts from selected survivor letters, a glossary, and an unseen
index complete this fine book. betty carter. TitleWave
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