Thoughts on Zia (Island of the Blue Dolphins #2) by Scott O'Dell

 

A young Indian girl, caught between the traditional world of her mother and the present world of the mission, is helped by her Aunt Karana, whose story was told in Island of the Blue Dolphins.

Goodreads * Amazon * BN

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**My thoughts**

Island of the Blue Dolphins was one of my favorite books when I was a child. I have reread it dozens of times. It wasn't until adulthood that I heard there was a sequel. I eventually grabbed a copy via my school's Scholastic Book Fair and kept putting off reading it. Until now.

Perhaps I should have left well enough alone, because I was really disappointed. 

I picked it up to read the same night I had just reread Island. Perhaps that was a mistake. It was jarring to suddenly have a lot of action and characters and conversation. I lost that sense of peace, calm, and connection.

And even though I know Island is a fictional account, it was hard for me to wrap my head around Karana having a niece and nephew so eager to find her. (So I figured this takes place within the year before they bring Karana back from the island.)

It's an interesting piece of historical fiction that shows some of the mistreatment of Indians by whites and the problems of these Missions that were popping up to convert them to Christianity. But I am not sure how historically accurate this story is.

I may have liked the story better if it was not trying to be connected to Island. I just didn't feel that at all. But it could have been an entertaining enough adventure on its own. And I probably would have enjoyed it more as a child than I did as an adult. I know I'll revisit Island, but I'm not likely to return to Zia.

I gave it 2.5 stars after going back and forth for a while.

Thoughts on Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell

 

Far off the coast of California looms a harsh rock known as the island of San Nicholas. Dolphins flash in the blue waters around it, sea otter play in the vast kep beds, and sea elephants loll on the stony beaches.

Here, in the early 1800s, according to history, an Indian girl spent eighteen years alone, and this beautifully written novel is her story. It is a romantic adventure filled with drama and heartache, for not only was mere subsistence on so desolate a spot a near miracle, but Karana had to contend with the ferocious pack of wild dogs that had killed her younger brother, constantly guard against the Aleutian sea otter hunters, and maintain a precarious food supply.

More than this, it is an adventure of the spirit that will haunt the reader long after the book has been put down. Karana's quiet courage, her Indian self-reliance and acceptance of fate, transform what to many would have been a devastating ordeal into an uplifting experience. From loneliness and terror come strength and serenity in this Newbery Medal-winning classic.

In celebration of the book's 50th anniversary, this edition has an introduction by Lois Lowry, Newbery Medal-winning author of The Giver and Number the Stars.

Book Links

Goodreads * Amazon * BN * Kobo * Google Play * Target * Indigo

(affiliate link included)

**My thoughts**

I've been revisiting a lot of my childhood favorites lately. Island of the Blue Dolphins start popping up in various places, so I curled up with it one recent evening to reread for the umpteenth time since I was 9 (though probably not for at least a decade).

For me, the magic is still there. Karana has a strength and determination in her spirit that I still admire. I found myself questioning now, as I did back then, whether I would make it all alone on an island for 18 years. Probably not. But we know that at least one woman did.

The book was inspired by a woman who lived alone on an island for 18 years. But especially as an adult, I understand that this book is pure fiction. No one really knows the truth about how the woman came to be alone on the island, nor how she actually survived all of those years, though the author did extensive research into the people of the area and the time. I especially appreciated the extra insights given in the 50th anniversary edition of the book, including the introduction written by beloved author Lois Lowry.

As an adult, I appreciate the story of survival and how Karana develops a strong love for nature and the world around her. I think a focus on these themes - and that women are capable of doing the same things men can - is what is most important and outweighs trying to teach this as a nonfiction historical text, which it is not. But it is such a good story.

I understand that Scott O'Dell later wrote a sequel. I have no idea what that could possibly be, but it is in my TBR pile.  

Mrs. Murray's Ghost by Emily-Jane Hills Orford

Welcome to the book tour for Mrs. Murray's Ghost by Emily-Jane Hills Orford. This fantasy story is reminiscent of ones that I enjoyed as a youth, and yet different at the same time. Please read on for my thoughts about the book. You can also read an excerpt from it. Plus Emily-Jane tells us why she would choose to live in this book if she could. Please ask her more questions and leave her comments and then follow the tour for even more thoughts. There's also a giveaway for a $10 gift card!

Please note that affiliate links are present within this post. Should you make a purchase through one, I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. I also received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Mrs. Murray's Ghost

Mary’s family has moved into a huge Victorian mansion. She loves her gigantic new house, especially her room. But then she begins to meet the house’s other residents. Mrs. Murray was murdered in Mary’s new house. At first she tries to scare the new residents away, but there seems to be a force connecting the ghost to Mary. Even the stranded Brownies, the little people who live between the walls, feel that connection. When Mary becomes deathly ill, the Brownies and the ghost team up to try to rescue her, only to encounter a witch and her evil minions. Time is running out. They must rescue Mary from a fever-induced dream world before she is trapped there forever. As well as being a fun read for young readers, the story gives an historical perspective to childhood, as it dates to the 1960s. It also deals with some very current issues, specifically bullying.

Read an excerpt:

“Did you leave any lights on downstairs?” he asked as he seated himself at the table once again.

“No,” Mom answered. “I turned everything off.”

“She did,” Mary added. “I made sure.”

“The lights were all on in the kitchen,” Dad said. “Some of the cupboard doors were wide open. I closed them.” At that, the banging doors started up again.

“I guess it’s official,” David announced. “We have a ghost.” He made his move and passed ‘Go’. Holding out his hand to the banker (who was always Dad to ensure some modicum of fairness in the game), he demanded, “Two hundred dollars, please.”

“Sounds to me like the ghost is checking us out,” Dad said, handing over the Monopoly money. “It’s not hurting anyone, so let it be.”

“Spoooooky!” David howled, laughing.

Mary didn’t laugh. She wasn’t sure why they thought it was funny, but if no one else was afraid, maybe ghosts weren’t scary.

Available on Amazon

**My thoughts**

From a very young age, I was completely mesmerized by ghost stories. I read every middle grade ghost story I could get my hands on, and then some. So seeing a new book with ghosts in it definitely piqued my interest. Only this book goes beyond a simple ghost. It also introduces the concept of Brownies, of which I had never heard. I grew up with The Littles, who were similar to The Borrowers, but knew nothing of Brownies.

Another interesting aspect of this book is all of the Scottish folklore and history. I do have some Scottish heritage, but never much learned about it. So I felt like I was getting bits of heritage while reading about these Brownies and as they were sharing some historical tidbits. I admit that I struggled with the names of a lot of the characters, but that also gives this book more of a fantasy feel.

This book definitely has the feel of a first book in the series, like it is setting up the characters and their significance for later adventures. You get a lot of the background of the ghost Mrs. Murray, the Brownies, as well as Mary and her connection to all of them. Revelations of the past allude to there being more installments to come as past wrongs are destined to be rectified somehow some way. I think there is some potential here for a very interesting fantasy series, especially for fans of historical fiction.

Ask the author:

If you could live in one of your books, which one and why?

In many ways, I have already lived in “Mrs. Murray’s Ghost” because much of the story is from my own childhood. I wouldn’t mind living it again, especially with all the adventures I have added and embellished. The only thing I really don’t like about my story is the bully, who was a real part of my childhood. All the things that Mary does in “Mrs. Murray’s Ghost” to avoid the bully, I used to do as well.

I’d love to revisit the old Victorian mansion that became our family home for many years. I’d love to see it again as I did that very first day, before the movers arrived. It felt so cold and empty and unloved, something that quickly changed once we moved in. I think that’s what worried our ghost initially: that we wouldn’t love and care for the house that she had loved long before we moved in. Once she realized how much we were a vital part of the house, she seemed to settle down and the noises and light shows that kept us awake those first nights disappeared.

The ghost didn’t disappear, though. She was always there, often hovering at the foot of my bed. Especially when I was sick, which I was a lot as a child. We didn’t have all those immunizations back in the 1960s, so I had everything imaginable: scarlet fever, chicken pox, mumps. And there were times when I was so sick, I was in another realm, an alternate, out-of-body existence. Hence the dream world in the story.

I would love to go back, to be with my family as we were in the 1960s. With Mom, Dad and Gran still alive and well and my siblings, annoying as they sometimes could be.

“Mrs. Murray’s Ghost” and the rest of “The Piccadilly Street” series is a trip down memory lane for me, almost wishful on my part that I could be there once again.

About Emily-Jane

An avid gardener, artist, musician and writer, Emily-Jane Hills Orford has fond memories and lots of stories that evolved from a childhood growing up in a haunted Victorian mansion. Told she had a ‘vivid imagination’, the author used this talent to create stories in her head to pass tedious hours while sick, waiting in a doctor’s office, listening to a teacher drone on about something she already knew, or enduring the long, stuffy family car rides. The author lived her stories in her head, allowing her imagination to lead her into a different world, one of her own making. As the author grew up, these stories, imaginings and fantasies took to the written form and, over the years, she developed a reputation for telling a good story. Emily-Jane can now boast that she is an award-winning author of several books, including Mrs. Murray’s Ghost (Telltale Publishing 2018), Queen Mary’s Daughter (Clean Reads 2018), Gerlinda (CFA 2016) which received an Honorable Mention in the 2016 Readers’ Favorite Book Awards, To Be a Duke (CFA 2014) which was named Finalist and Silver Medalist in the 2015 Next Generation Indie Book Awards and received an Honorable Mention in the 2015 Readers’ Favorite Book Awards and several other books. A retired teacher of music and creative writing, she writes about the extra-ordinary in life and the fantasies of dreams combined with memories. For more information on the author, check out her website at: http://emilyjanebooks.ca

Author Links:
Website: http://emilyjanebooks.ca
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/realpeoplestories
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ejhomusic
Blog: http://beyondtheordinaryincanadianstories.blogspot.ca/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1732544.Emily_Jane_Hills_Orford

Emily-Jane Hills Orford will be awarding a $10 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

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Review of Secrets From Myself by Christine Hart with Giveaway

I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. I also have affiliate links in this post. If you make a purchase through one, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you to help me support my websites. Neither of these things influenced by thoughts and comments in any way.

A middle grade fiction story based on real life events in a dark moment of Canadian history. Find out more about the story and check out an excerpt. Then get your own copy from Amazon or Barnes and Noble and see what you think compared to my review. Be sure to leave a comment for the author and to enter the giveaway at the bottom of the post!

Secrets From Myself

Twelve-year-old Katelyn has always heard voices and had visions. She's long suspected she was hearing from past lives. But when she runs away from home and hides out with an old friend in Vancouver, things become more real. She even finds herself writing the words of someone else in a diary - the words of someone whose fate was deeply impacted by the Komagata Maru incident.

As Katelyn learns more about the Komagata Maru and the person communicating with her, she realizes that she has a task to fulfill that will correct a wrong from the past.As Katelyn learns more about the Komagata Maru and the person communicating with her, she realizes that she has a task to fulfill that will correct a wrong from the past.

Read an excerpt:

MY TURN IN the shower has been bumped to after dinner because of my tardy return from the Drive. I don’t like going to bed with wet hair and the house hairdryer is broken. I’ll just have to deal. But after a truly brain-blending afternoon, I decide sleeping with wet hair isn’t something worth complaining to Mariah about. 

I draw the curtain and turn the shower to mostly hot. I peel off my tank top and denim shorts. I step inside the steamy enclosure and pick up the communal shampoo bottle, cursing myself for not picking up some of my own toiletries during one of my brief outings. 

As I work the foamy soap through my hair, my arms start to feel chilly. I turn the water all the way to hot. Stupid small hot water tank. They’re supposed to be housing half a dozen girls here. Can’t they do better? 

The water starts to scald my skin, but the air around me is still cold. I start to feel nauseous. I need to sit down. Now. I flick off the shower head and sit down in the shower, hugging my knees for warmth. It’s no good. 

I pull the shower curtain back to grab a towel. I look over at the bathroom mirror and scream. It’s not me! It’s HER! Akasha’s face stares back at me from behind the condensation on the wet glass. Several lines are written in characters I don’t recognize.

Buy links

Amazon / Barnes and Noble

**My thoughts**

The book's description made my inner middle grade mystery lover squeal in excitement. I lived to read these kinds of stories when I was younger and I kind of thought of something like The Dollhouse Murders, which was one of my favorites. 

This one took me a little while to get into. I felt like it started a little slow and I wasn't really sure what was happening. For some reason, I kept thinking of Girl, Interrupted with Katelyn being hospitalized and then moved to a group home as the doctors of various disciplines were trying to figure out what was wrong with her. I almost forgot that Katelyn was only 12 years old, because she presented as someone a lot more mature. I admit I also had a hard time reading a story written completely in present tense and first-person. That kind of narrative isn't my personal favorite, but I know a lot of people who love that. 

Once the story got going and Katelyn was having more interactions with the spirit of Akasha and finding out more about the history, I got more into the story and wanted to know what happened and why there was this connection between the two girls in different times. I kept thinking of Harry Potter every time Katelyn's hand was possessed and Akasha's words came out of her. The resolution was an interesting one that I honestly didn't see coming with the way that the story was panning out. 

I honestly felt like the whole halfway house thing was a little odd and parts of the story could have been developed differently, but it was still an interesting story. I especially appreciated it more after I read the blurb about the real history behind the story, on which this fictional account is based. I would love to find out more about it, because I am a fan of history. Had I read it back in elementary school, I quite likely would have done one of my monthly reports on the real story of the Komagata Maru.

I would recommend this book to older middle grade readers who like a bit of the supernatural mixed in with their history. 

About Christine Hart

Located on BC’s beautiful West Coast, I write from my suburban Langley home on the border between peaceful forests and urban streets. I love writing about places and spaces with rich history and visually fascinating elements as a backdrop for the surreal and spectacular.

In addition to my undergraduate degree in writing and literature, my background also includes corporate communications and design. I am a current member of the Federation of BC Writers and SF Canada.

When not writing, I have a habit of breaking stuff and making stuff – in that order – under the guise of my Etsy alter-ego Sleepless Storyteller. I share my eclectic home and lifestyle with my husband and our two energetic children.

Christine Hart will be awarding a paperback bundle of backlist titles: Stalked, Best Laid Plans, and Watching July (US/Canada only) to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Follow along for even more chances to win!

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'The Secret Diary of Sarah Chamberlain' by Sarah Norkus

The Secret Diary of Sarah Chamberlain
by Sarah Norkus

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BLURB:

Fifteen year-old Emily Grace (Em) discovers a secret hiding place under a wooden plank in the attic of an old house in Petersburg owned by the Ladies Benevolent Society. It conceals a 150 year old diary belonging to Sarah Chamberlain, the previous owner of the house. Turning to the last entry, Em’s interest is piqued by the mention of the missing confederate gold and a murder mystery. She slips the diary into the pocket of her capris.

A week later, Em finishes the diary. Emotions well up inside her as she rereads the last page. The diary holds no clues to the location of the gold. But it is clear that Sarah believes that her husband, Robert, was murdered by the guards in charge of the Union prison where he was being held. Tears slide down Em’s cheeks as she thinks about the senseless murder of the man Sarah loved. She slips the diary back in her pocket planning to return it to the attic while helping her mother clean the old house in Petersburg.

While scrubbing black scuffmarks off the kitchen floor in the Petersburg house, Em has an emotional meltdown. She shouts her list of grievances, including Robert’s murder, before God. Em ends her tirade by saying that since God has done nothing to help her or Sarah she doesn’t believe he really exists. Almost immediately, she is overcome with vertigo and passes out.

Slowly regaining consciousness, Em looks around in confusion. The kitchen has been replaced by a nineteenth century parlor.

Read an excerpt:

Em struggled her way back to consciousness. Moving her cheek on the floor, she puzzled at the sensation. Linoleum was supposed to be smooth and hard, not soft. She slowly opened her eyes and blinked at a table leg about a half an inch from her nose. Wiggling on her belly away from the table leg, Em placed her hands flat and prepared to push herself up. Her eyes widened. Her hands were on either side of a large, red rose embroidered into a rug. She jerked in shock, banging her head on the bottom of a wooden table.

“Ouch,” Em said, rubbing the top of her head.

After scooting backward so she wouldn’t hit her head again, Em sat up and looked around the room. Gone were the sink and the shiny, new chrome faucets. Gone, too, were the refrigerator and stove. In fact, the whole kitchen had disappeared, along with the worn linoleum. “That’s no great loss; in fact, that’s the best part of this crazy dream I’m having,” Em thought.

Em’s brows knitted together. She must be dreaming, although she couldn’t remember ever having the sensation of touch in a dream. Her fingers rubbed across the pile of the rug.

On the ledge over the fireplace, which was no longer bricked in, sat a clock. It ticked rhythmically and showed the time to be ten o’clock. To the right of the fireplace was a beautiful needlepoint chair. Two dark wood chairs faced each other, their cushions upholstered in a floral pattern. One rested to the left of the fireplace, the other was next to the doorway. Each chair had a walnut wooden table next to it, with an oil lamp on each. Against the far wall was a settee, the cushion a slightly worn dusty rose. The walls were painted a moss green. The heavy drapes on the windows next to the fireplace matched the settee. Chills ran down Em’s spine. It all looked so real.

Turning around to look behind her, Em saw the antique writing table that had been sent out to be restored. A small dark wooden chair perched between the drawers. Trembling, Em pushed herself up off the floor on shaky legs. She tentatively touched the smooth surface of the writing table.

“Mom!” Em screamed.

A door slammed and Em heard footsteps.

But instead of her mother, the biggest black man she had ever seen filled the doorway. He wore a stained and faded white shirt and calf-length brown work pants. His feet were bare and covered in dirt. His short cropped hair looked like a gray Brillo pad. He held a long-handled, curved knife. Em took a step backward, lost her balance, and fell, hitting her head on the mantle of the fireplace. Pain exploded in her head. She crumpled to the floor.

**My thoughts**

This is the kind of book that I would have eaten up in elementary school and middle school. It is a time travel mystery, taking place during my favorite historical period, the Civil War. I also always dreamed of being lucky enough to come across a diary, hidden somewhere in a house. Actually, anything hidden in an old house, artifacts, hidden passageways, etc., was always a dream. Add to that, a secret wish to go back in time, and Emily is in my dream situation.

Emily has several struggles, though, making her question her faith, while also feeling a strong desire to make things right in the past. Her trip back in time is a gift, a sort of reawakening for her, while sending a good message to the reader, without being overly preachy.

I know I said that this book is one that I would have enjoyed at a much younger age, but I think many adults will also enjoy it.


Book links

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Sarah tells readers that writing is in her blood, literally. Her father was a writer and editor of the horse racing magazine, The Horseman and Fair World. And her cousin, Stephen Ambrose, wrote many historic military books, including Band of Brothers, which became a miniseries on HBO.

Getting a late start, Sarah didn’t pen her first book until she was forty-eight. “I was too busy globe-trotting with my army husband and raising two daughters.” But she is quickly making up for lost time with five manuscripts completed and three published books in the last eight years: the creative non-fiction, The Eleventh Summer, a general fiction, Until The Wind Changes, and a Christian historical fantasy, The Secret Diary Of Sarah Chamberlain. “I tend to be all over the map genre-wise, writing whatever sparks my imagination.”

Sarah is a member of the American Christian Fiction Writers, the National Society Daughters of American Revolution, Toastmasters International and the American Red Cross. She grew up in Lexington, KY, but now resides in Colonial Heights, VA with her retired military officer husband, Michael.

Website www.sarahnorkus.com
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/SNKUSBOOKS
Twitter @snkusbooks


Sarah will award a $20 Amazon GC to one randomly drawn commenter during the tour. Follow the tour for more chances to win!

#AtoZChallenge Newbery Winner 'Bud, Not Buddy' by Christopher Paul Curtis

In 2000, author Christopher Paul Curtis won the Newbery Medal for his book Bud, Not Buddy. A story chronicling an orphan during the great Depression, it is taught in classrooms all over. (Get a teaching guide here.) This is yet another one that I haven't read, but plan to soon. I have a copy sitting on my bookshelf, just waiting to be devoured.

The Amazon description is short, but tells you everything you need to know to start it:

It’s 1936, in Flint, Michigan, and when 10-year-old Bud decides to hit the road to find his father, nothing can stop him.

Buy it on Amazon \ Barnes & Noble

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Author Christopher Paul Curtis also received the Newbery Honor in 1996 for The Watson's Go to Birmingham: 1963, which deals with the horrors of racism in Birmingham in 1963. (Get a teacher's guide here.) Another one on that never-ending necessary TBR pile.

From Amazon:

A wonderful middle-grade novel narrated by Kenny, 9, about his middle-class black family, the Weird  Watsons of Flint, Michigan. When Kenny's  13-year-old brother, Byron, gets to be too much trouble,  they head South to Birmingham to visit Grandma, the  one person who can shape him up. And they happen to  be in Birmingham when Grandma's church is blown  up.

Buy it on Amazon \ Barnes & Noble

Have you read either of these? What did you think of them? 

'Texting Through Time: John Taylor and the Mystery Puzzle' Blog Tour

Book Description:

Micah and Alicia are excited to meet John Taylor as a child in England. But when their phone won’t let them return to their own time, they’ll follow the prophet around the world, learning some important lessons along the way. Humorous, entertaining, and informative, this book is a wonderful introduction to church history that’s bound to be a family favorite!

**My thoughts**

Fans of The Magic Tree House series will enjoy this book that follows a similar idea. Brother and sister Micah and Alicia use a magic cell phone to be transported back into time to follow important figures in the Mormon faith. In the first book, they apparently met up with Brigham Young. In this one, they follow the prophet John Taylor.

There is adventure as they go along their quest to find all of the missing components of a puzzle that is programmed into the phone. Suspense builds as obstacles fall into their path. Faith builds as they believe that they will be taken care of and find their way home again. The children learn lots of lessons along the way, as well.

Even though this book is geared toward children in LDS families, I think other middle grade readers would enjoy the adventure and the story. Everyone can learn about merely living live as a good person by reading the lessons that Micah and Alicia learn on their quest. I am curious about other books in the series.

Meet the Author:

My grandmother lived with us when I was young. She loved to read me stories. I would curl up in her lap or sit on the bed next to her and listen to the tales spin out before me. We cried together over Lassie Come Home and loved Madeline and her adventures. That was a magical time for me in my life. When my children were little, I loved reading to them because it kept the magic alive. Now my children are grown, I can keep the magic by writing stories for others to read.

I love to read and write stories about the pioneer prophets.

Pioneers live all over the world. I still have family in Switzerland and Poland. Where do you and your ancestors come from? Write and tell me.

I am like the pioneers because I love:

• Old fashioned cooking—making butter
• Pioneer games—button, button, who’s got the button?
• Crafts the pioneers enjoyed—drying wild flowers

To learn more about the author and her books, you can visit her website at: www.christymonson.com

Chapter Books A to Z: L is for Little House on the Prairie

I am pretty sure it was my grandmother who first introduced me to the Little House on the Prairie books when I was a kid. She often took us to the library and loved to show us the classics. I fell madly in love with them and made my mother buy me the entire series. Grandma was always horrified that we bought so many books, but I read and reread these until their covers were almost worn. I am surprised that I still have some of the copies.

The last time I read them was back in college. I was taking a class called "Math for Elementary Teachers." I was bored out of my mind, because I had just switched over from being a math major. Calculus III to expanded notation was a huge drop. I don't remember why I felt compelled to reread the books, but I did in six weeks during that class.


Laura was one of my heroes. She had long brown hair, always in braids. I wanted really long hair in braids. I think I remember even being disappointed that my eyes were not brown like hers. I loved her sense of independence and her relationship with her father. I also loved learning about history. I would try to imagine what it was like growing up back in the 1800s and tried to mimic some of their tasks. I even used to invent little games of pretend that involved the Little House characters. I think I even used to write my own "fan fiction," using the characters.

I was also a big fan of the TV series, but had a hard time with that parallel universe. The two were fundamentally the same, especially in the beginning, but then became vastly different.

In the past several years, new stories based on the original books by Laura Ingalls Wilder have become available. There is a fictional series about her mother, Caroline, as a child. I just cannot bring myself to read any of these spin-offs. I am sure they have some kind of value, but it just rubs me the wrong way. I would love to hear from people who have read the others.

Review of I Survived the Sinking of the Titanic 1912

It has been 100 years since the Titanic set sail on her fateful maiden voyage. Enthusiasts are clamoring to get as much information as they can and people want to capitalize upon its popularity again. Today's bargain book from one of the freebie sites I follow had the book I Survived the Sinking of the Titanic, 1912 on a featured post. I don't usually like to purchase books for the Kindle when there are so many freebies out there. But somehow, I just couldn't resist this one. I had it read in about 20 minutes.

10 year-old George Calder and his 8 year-old sister Phoebe just spent the summer visiting their Aunt Daisy in England. Her husband had passed away the previous year, never fulfilling his dream of riding on the maiden voyage of the great Titanic. So, Daisy has asked her niece and nephew to ride back to New York with her on this majestic ship. They are ecstatic to be aboard this floating palace.

George has a knack for getting himself into trouble, though. He is already in trouble for sliding down the banister in the grand ballroom. His aunt has warned him to stay out of trouble. But he has heard about a mysterious Egyptain mummy being transported across the seas and really wants to find it. Doing so almost gets him into more trouble, but then the ship strikes the iceberg. Can George find his family and survive the sinking of the ship?




This book is a work of historical fiction. That means that the given facts about the Titanic are indeed accurate. The characters, though, are fictional, though based upon some real figures from the time. Enough detail is given through the story to make it a relatively believable account of what could have happened to a young boy aboard the Titanic. Accompanying the story are drawings that look accurate enough, according to photographs I have seen.  The end of the book includes even more Titanic facts. Author Lauren Tarshis has worked hard to maintain historical integrity while crafting her fictional mystery.

I Survived the Sinking of the Titanic, 1912 is an easy read, that should be appealing to children in elementary school. It would serve well as a read-aloud or for independent reading. I just wish my students were a little bit older so that they would better appreciate it. I think it is the kind of book that would encourage children to develop an interest in history and to research more information.

Apparently this is just one book in a series written by Lauren Tarshis. Her I Survived series places fictional children in the middle of some of history's greatest disasters. I look forward to reading others in the series.

It is available both for the Kindle and in paperback.