SOS TITANIC

It's April, 1912, and 15-year-old Barry is reluctantly leaving Ireland for New York in a first-class cabin on the Titanic. Barry has lived with his grandparents for ten years while his parents have been in China, and he's apprehensive about the upcoming reunion. To make matters worse, he'll have to spend his whole journey avoiding Frank and Jonnie Flynn, who blame Barry's grandfather for their own forced departure from Ireland via steerage. Barry, of course, has no idea of the fate that awaits Titanic, but readers who do will take particular note of the foreshadowing expertly woven into Bunting's narrative: Watley, a first-class steward, claims to have second sight and tells Barry of his visions, while a superstitious passenger is seen counting and recounting the lifeboats. Barry himself, through his interest in the Flynn brothers' sister, Pegeen, grows in awareness of the injustice of the class system on board - the system which ultimately doomed most of the steerage passengers. Bunting carries her story through to its inevitable conclusion, and her description of the ship's sinking, and the post-collison chaos that ensued, is gripping, fast reading. Historical details of interest to Titanic fans abound through the text without ever overpowering the very human stories being told, making this a good introduction to historical fiction for readers who might otherwise resist.