Voyage on the Great Titanic: The Diary of Margaret Ann Brady, HMS Titanic, 1912 (Dear America Series)

by Ellen Emerson White

Overview

Five years ago, Margaret Ann Brady's older brother left her in the care of an orphanage and immigrated to America. When the orphanage receives an unusual request from an American woman looking for a traveling companion, Margaret's teachers agree that she is the perfect candidate to accompany Mrs. Carstairs on the TITANIC, so that once Margaret arrives in New York she will be free to join her brother in Boston. But the TITANIC is destined for tragedy, and Margaret's journey is thrown into a frozen nightmare when the ship collides with an iceberg.

Margaret's diary records the unimaginable drama and anguish only a survivor could comprehend.

PRAISE FOR DEAR AMERICA:

"More than a supplement to classroom textbooks, this series is an imaginative, solid entre into American history." --PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

"An impressive series that will challenge students to make connections from prominent historical events to relevant life situations. . . . A wonderful asset to the classroom as well as to home libraries." --CHILDREN'S BOOK REVIEW SERVICE

"Engaging accessible historical fiction." --SLJ

"The Dear America diaries represent the best of historical fiction for any age." --CHICAGO TRIBUNE

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780545238342
Publisher:	Scholastic, Inc.
Publication date:	11/01/2010
Series:	Dear America Series
Pages:	208
Sales rank:	166,795
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 7.40(h) x 0.80(d)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Ellen Emerson White has written several critically acclaimed novels for young adults, among them THE PRESIDENT'S DAUGHTER, and its follow-up, LONG MAY SHE REIGN, as well as LIFE WITHOUT FRIENDS and LONG LIVE THE QUEEN. Ms. White graduated from Tufts University with a BA in English. She also studied fire science and police science at John Jay College in New York City and is certified to teach high school English. Her interests include the Vietnam War, cooking, downhill skiing, the Boston Red Sox, the New England Patriots, jazz, reading, politics, and pets.

Editorial Reviews

Part of the series "Dear America," this historical novel traces thirteen-year-old Margaret Ann Brady from March 28, 1912, when she is a resident in London's St. Abernathy's Orphanage for Girls, through April 20, 1912, when she is reunited with her older brother, William, in Charlestown, Massachusetts. The story proceeds through entries into her journal. Flashbacks explain that she and her brother were orphaned as young children and lived on the streets of London until he reluctantly deposited her at the orphanage. In the opening entry, readers learn that her favorite nun, Sister Catherine, is arranging for Margaret to accompany Mrs. Carstairs, an American, on her voyage home on the R.M.S. Titanic. A spunky character, Margaret comments wryly on Mrs. Carstairs' mangling her name and on Americans' appalling tendency to drink coffee. She also is awed by but pleased to accept a new wardrobe and the lavish appointments and meals onboard. Befriending a crewmember, with whom she relinquishes her carefully rehearsed upper-class accent, returning to her Cockney origins, and spying steerage passengers, Margaret muses on British class structure. Then, disaster hits. She describes events as the Titanic founders and sinks and she is rescued. Written in the formal, somewhat stilted English of educated Britons at the time, the book incorporates information about society, living conditions, and historical events. The story will probably absorb readers, even though the journal format is unconvincing; for instance, most journal writers do not explain their past in detail nor is it likely that anyone kept a daily journal immediately before and after the sinking of the Titanic. An imagined epilogue that follows Margaret through her college and working years until her death is convincing, despite the fact that few immigrant youngsters in her situation had the luxury of attending college. Reviewer: Cynthia Levinson

Children's Literature - Cynthia Levinson