SOS Titanic

by Eve Bunting

2012

Status

Available

Call number

Bunting

Genres

All Topics

Fiction

Collection

Adventure

Publication

HMH Books for Young Readers (2012), Edition: First, 256 pages

Description

Fifteen-year-old Barry O'Neill, traveling from Ireland to America on the maiden voyage of the Titanic, finds his life endangered when the ship hits an iceberg and begins to sink.

User reviews

LibraryThing member julieaduncan

Barry O'Neill is leaving Ireland and his grandparents to go live with his parents in New York City. Two boys and a girl from the Flynn family are also forced to leave Ireland because Barry's grandfather filed a complaint against one of the boys. It was one complaint too many for the authorities.

All four of them are on the Titanic and it can only mean trouble. Add to the ill feelings the fact that Barry is first-class and the Flynns are in steerage. Things begin to change, however, when Barry finds himself falling in love with Pegeen Flynn. When the ship begins to sink, he must try to locate her in time in an effort to get on one of the few boats left.

I love the Titanic background and this book is full of information woven around the story. However, the story itself seems rather canned and is not very interesting. It took awhile getting started rather than pulling you in from page one. Nonetheless, one thing that stuck out at me was that they only let women and children leave in the boats first. I had to ask myself if I could have left my husband and get on the boat or would I have chosen to stay with him knowing it would most likely mean death.

There are two interesting things you could do with this book in a classroom. One focus could be the class distinctions. How were the lower class steerage passengers treated versus the first class passengers? How are things improved today? Assign a real passenger name to each child. Have them research what class they were in, then write up an imaginary diary page of that passenger's first day on the ship. A second focus could be with mathematics. The book presents a lot of numbers: number of passengers, number of lifeboats, number of people per lifeboat, and the amount of time it takes the ship to sink. Propose several math problems around these numbers. How many lifeboats should there have been? If five boats left the ship only half full, how many more lifeboats would be needed in reserve to still get everyone off the boat? If it takes, fifteen minutes to load a boat and they can only load three boats at a time, how long will it take to get everyone in boats?

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LibraryThing member t1bnotown

This book covers a lot of the stories of the Titanic- everything from the cursed mummy on board to people that spent hours on an overturned portable lifeboat. The author did a good job weaving all these details together. The story itself was less interesting than the context, although the end had

possibilities.

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LibraryThing member jakdomin

Read this with a guided reading group with our highest leveled 5th graders. The story is very relatable to 10 year olds as the main character is around that age. The history about the Titanic is fun to read and compare with the movie. Fun, quick read.

LibraryThing member jrg019

A childrens book that tells the story of the titanic on their level of understanding.

LibraryThing member Randalea

The horror story of the Titanic in 1912 is told from the perspective of a young Irishman on his way to these United States. His courage and fortitude are paramount.

LibraryThing member Remy_Ferrell

This fictional book is set on the Titanic. It follows Barry who is traveling to America from Ireland. Unfortunately for Barry, he is on board the soon-to-be-doomed Titanic. This is the only fictional story I read about the Titanic, but the author did such an amazing job, I thought the story was

real. The book is simple and easy to read so I was easily engulfed in its many pages. If you like the Titanic, you will want to check out this book.

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LibraryThing member manka23

I picked up this novel along with The Dressmaker in the gift shop in the Titanic Museum in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. Having just seen so many artifacts and hearing about all the different people whose lives were devastated by the sinking of Titanic I wanted to hear more. This book was as emotional

for me as it was walking through the museum.

I am Irish and my extended family is quite large, so I knew I would enjoy reading about Irish kids aboard the Titanic. It felt as if they could be my kin.
Barry's story brought me aboard the Titanic as a first-class passenger as he left Ireland and his grandparents behind to go live with his parents, who had virtually no relationship with. His homesickness brought him to speak with only other passages from his hometown, the Flynn's . As he fought the brothers and sought after Pegeen I felt as I was inside the story myself.

When they didn't let him aboard a lifeboat I found myself yelling "he's only 15!" Iwith tears coming down my face. This book is more of a middle school /young adult read, but I believe people of all ages would be touched by this story of tragedy.

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