Titanic: Voices from the
Disaster
Author: Deborah Hopkinson
Publisher:
Scholastic Press
Copyright
Date: March, 2012
Age Range: 8-12
years
Grade
Level: 3-7
Length:
304 Pages
Awards:
- Sibert Honor Book
- YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction Finalist
- ALA Notable Children’s Book
- IRA Teacher’s Choice
- Kirkus Reviews Best Young Adult Book of the Year
- Horn Book Fanfare Book
- Cybils Award Finalist
Summary:
Hopkinson
provides a good account of the Titanic tragedy through portrayals of passengers
and crew members from vastly different backgrounds and socioeconomic
class. These descriptions of the
passengers make the disaster come alive and gives the reader a real sense that
the lives lost were not just long ago statistics but real people who lost their
lives needlessly. In addition to the profiles
of the passengers, Hopkinson provides detailed information about the ship
including the construction and engineering.
In addition, it describes the boat (including a diagram) and the
activities and amenities provided. The
book is filled with archival photos from both the Titanic and similar ships as
well as telegrams and other documents related to the tragedy. The photo below with quote from crew member Violet Jessop, is indicative of some of the haunting items included in the book:
In addition, the book has sections throughout
the text that focus on an issue or question and address it. These little sections give the reader a break
from the main text and provide interesting information in bite-sized
portions. For example, one such section
is on why there weren’t enough lifeboats.
In this
short novel, Hopkins does a good job of balancing technical information with
the stories of the passengers and crew and in doing so, gives us a picture of
not only what occurred but some of the reasons why. The book is full of documented statements
from passengers such as this from Lawrence Beesley regarding how those safe on
Lifeboat 13 (which was completely full) reacted to hearing the cries from those
in the water: “We tried to sing to keep
all from thinking of them; but there was no heart for singing in the boat at
that time” (Hopkinson, p.153). The book
includes much more upsetting circumstances, such as those on an almost entirely
empty lifeboat who refused to try to pick up any passengers. Since Hopkinson has so deftly introduced us
to passengers throughout the book, some who will survive and some who won’t,
the time after the Titanic has hit the iceberg and begins the process of
sinking is even more real for the reader.
The book also discusses the aftermath of the wreckage and what happened
to some of the survivors as well as what has happened with the wreckage over
the course of time.
The end of
the book also contains profiles of all the people in the book, a timeline, survivor
letters, and additional charts and resources.
Accompanying Websites:
http://deborahhopkinson.com/products/titanic-voice-from-the-disaster-by-deborah-hopkinson
: The author’s
website provides a number of resources for readers and teachers including
listening to interviews online of actual survivors, transcripts of survivors’
testimonies, and places to discuss the Titanic online. It also provides teaching ideas for classroom
activities including these:
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