For instance, in first class people couldn't tell that there was an accident in second class, they felt a bump but it wasn't violent enough to toss a person on the floor and in third class, a noise was heard and water was rapidly seeping into the cabins so people knew it was serious. This variety of peoples' perspectives shows how the disaster impacted people in different ways. That's why you can't worry about all the different characters in the story. She also uses a variety of people on the ship which gives different viewpoints of the event. The author doesn't dramatize the text with her voice instead, she presents the facts in such a way that they speak for themselves. It just made the fate of those on board even more tragic. Many crew members and staff sacrificed their lives in order to save others and even though some were responsible for the errors they were noble in their efforts to save the ship and others in the end. The story is a powerful comment on the culture and class structure of that time, not to mention the overconfidence of those in charge of the ship, and lack of understanding of the seriousness of the accident after they hit the iceberg. So many people from the stewards to the passengers are heroes in this tragedy. Think of it as one collective voice that moves the storyline forward. You don't really need to keep track of everyone. Don't let this trip you into not reading it. I'm never going to be able to keep track of all these people. When I first started this book I thought. Their voices are powerful and dramatic in this description of the lucky few who survived this disaster.

Yet unbelievably, many survivors of the Titanic did just that in this page-turning nonfiction account of the sinking of the Titanic.

That is why I cannot imagine being submerged in 28 degree water for HOURS and surviving with no limbs amputated from exposure. The water temperature was in the 50's and my teeth were chattering and blue within a short amount of time. Imagine a big block of ice being dropped onto your chest. Whooee, I was so unprepared for air whooshing out of my lungs when I hit the water.

But I found out I didn't when I decided to jump off a sailboat into Lake Superior. I grew up in the Land of 10,000 Frozen Lakes.

The Great Trouble by Deborah Hopkinson