Sarah Jane

Literary Merit: Okay
Characterization:Okay
Recommendations: Yes for middle school libraries that need more disaster books
Reading Level: Middle School

Isabella has grown up cared for but very poor. She doesn’t understand why her parents would send her on the Titanic across the entire ocean away from them. But her father is very sick, and she understands that one less mouth to feed might help her parents. But on her way aboard, her mother gives her an envelope with two letters with the instruction not to open it until the day before they land. Isabella can’t wait that long though and when she read her mother’s secret she is horrified but also understands.

Lucille is rich. Very rich and well taken care of. She is a first-class passenger aboard the Titanic and should have nothing in common with Isabella. However, that isn’t true. The two girls are intertwined by a secret that is unimaginable. Lucille’s maid Abby is also coming on the adventure. Abby’s mother has recently died and left her in the possession of her very young brother. When Abby asked if her brother could come Lucille's father laughed and said that she should send her brother to the workhouse. Not wanting to subject her brother to such an awful circumstance with disease and hunger, Abby does the imaginable. She stows Felix her brother away in a trunk and sneaks him aboard the Titanic. Now she has to keep him hidden and away from adults until they reach New York safety. Everyone’s plans though change once disaster strikes.

I have mixed feelings about this book. It wasn't a terrible read. However, there were so many plot holes you could drive a semi into it. I don't know if middle school audience will notice with the exciting events and story line that progresses the novel along at a fast pace. The main villain of the story is classic textbook and their motives are never discussed about why they were doing their nefarious deeds. It felt like a cartoon character twirling their mustache at the end. With that being said. I am still giving it three stars because I do think that middle school audiences will enjoy a story of sisterhood, classism, and historical fiction that this novel does very well. For most of the book I was invested in the characters and their story. It's only those glaring plot holes that could have been fixed with just an extra chapter or paragraph of information that would have elevated this story.… (más)