Inside the Titanic

Description

32 pages
Contains Photos
$24.95
ISBN 0-316-55716-1
DDC 363.12'3'091631

Year

1997

Contributor

Illustrations by Ken Marschall
Reviewed by Steve Pitt

Steve Pitt is a Toronto-based freelance writer and an award-winning journalist. He has written many young adult and children's books, including Day of the Flying Fox: The True Story of World War II Pilot Charley Fox.

Review

Young Frankie Goldsmith is thrilled to be traveling across the Atlantic
on the brand-new ocean liner RMS Titanic. Although he and his family are
crammed into a tiny third-class cabin below deck, Frankie thinks every
minute aboard the huge ship is a wonderful adventure. Billy and Lucille
Carter are also young children on board the Titanic, but unlike the
Goldsmiths, the Carters enjoy first-class accommodation. Lucille likes
to visit the health spa and walk the exclusive promenade deck. Billy’s
father dines with Captain Smith, the Titanic’s famous commanding
officer. The lives of all these people change forever on April 14, 1912,
when the Titanic strikes an iceberg just before midnight. To their
horror, the passengers and crew discover that their supposedly
unsinkable ship is taking on water and there are not enough lifeboats
for everyone.

This book is based on real-life accounts of actual survivors of the
disaster. Although the prose is clear and well-researched, it is pretty
much blown out of the water by the book’s spectacular illustrations.
The particularly intriguing cutaway paintings allow readers to see how
the huge ship was built and operated. Photos mixed with finely detailed
oil paintings give the reader an unforgettable impression of the entire
Titanic tragedy. Highly recommended.

Citation

Brewster, Hugh., “Inside the Titanic,” Canadian Book Review Annual Online, accessed October 5, 2024, https://cbra.library.utoronto.ca/items/show/18951.