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On Board the Titanic: What It Was Like When the Great Liner Sank

Book Summary

Reviewed by Tanya Smith

Seventeen-year-old Jack Thayer and his parents board the doomed Titanic on April 10, 1912. While his parents hobnob with the rich and famous, Jack explores the ship on his own. Jack quickly makes friends with the ship's designer, who offers to let Jack tag along on his inspection rounds.

Jack's privileged point of view is intercut with that of twenty-two-year-old wireless operator Harold Bride. After an iceberg splits the ship in two, both boys find themselves clinging to the same life raft-struggling to survive while bravely helping others.

Tanaka uses imagined conversations and thoughts to give a narrative structure to the real-life stories of Thayer and Bride. Copious pictures, paintings, and diagrams mesmerize as well as instruct. A glossary and a list of books recommended for further reading round out the educational value.

Is It Any Good?

3

With ON BOARD THE TITANIC, Shelly Tanaka turns the real-life stories of 17-year-old Jack Thayer and 22-year-old Harold Bride into a suspenseful narrative. Visuals crowd each page: a shot of the postcard given to travelers as they boarded, a picture of the telegram announcing the wreck, a Morse code diagram. Drawings of the ship's interior jockey for space with haunting black-and-white passenger photos. While the information adds to the story, the design can at be overwhelming.

Many lessons emerge from the fate of the Titanic. The true stories of first-class passenger Jack and working-class Harold underscore the class differences that meant life or death for many passengers. It's tragic -- although no shock -- that the higher one's class, the higher one's chance of survival. Also, the Titanic has become a symbol of the dangers of poor planning and overconfidence.

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