Voyage on the Great Titanic: The Diary of Margaret Ann Brady, RMS Titanic, 1912, by Ellen White (Scholastic, $10.95HB, 2010, 197pp, ages 8-12, grades 4-6), a book in the 55-book Dear America series. Review by Skye Anderson. This book is available in the Howard County, Maryland, libraries.
Imagine you are a 13-year-old English girl living in a convent and you receive a life-changing invitation as companion to a wealthy woman who has booked passage on the Titanic to America! You jump at the chance to join your brother in the New World, since both your parents have passed away. Oh, what adventures await you, a working class girl on a first class voyage!
You begin writing a diary and onboard ship your first-class (yes, first class!) stateroom steward is a young teenage boy who you befriend.
Your readers learn about the clothing of the early century, the class system (especially onboard ship), the food, and daily life on the world's greatest ocean-going vessel.
Your companion is a bit stuffy, stodgy and even a bit selfish - typical in the wealthy class but nevertheless the ocean journey is fairly easy and relaxed for you.
The Night the Titanic Sank
Of course, all that is before the night as you are writing in your diary that you feel a bump and the bump turns into an iceberg.
Author Ellen White has penned an exiting tale that takes you back more than a hundred years to experience how people lived - and a traumatic historical event. White has included photos in the back, a timeline, an epilogue, and a historical note about the ship.
