In 1912, thirteen-year-old Albert considers his younger sister a pest, but things change when they travel with their mother and uncle aboard the Titanic and are caught up in its tragic sinking.
The sinking of the Titanic in April 1912 provides the emotional peak of this fact-based novel. Albert Trask, 13, is thrilled to be leaving England with his widowed mother, uncle and six-year-old sister. He's had enough of private tutoring and rainy weather, and can't wait to return to the family home outside Washington, D.C. But as the journey begins, Albert overhears a passenger suggest that the vessel isn't carrying enough lifeboats-a suspicion he confirms in conversation with a crewman. Williams (Mitzi and the Terrible Tyrannosaurus Rex) devotes relatively little space to the actual calamity, however, and the lengthy prelude grows tedious. The author's postscript mentions that Albert was created from a boy she discovered in her research, a 13-year-old initially prevented from boarding a lifeboat because he had attained the age of manhood. No passage in the novel itself, unfortunately, evokes the catastrophe with as much poignancy. Ages 9-13. (June) Copyright 1995 Cahners Business Information.
Gr 5-8?In an entertaining blend of fact and fiction, Albert Trask, 13, relates his experience aboard the opulent, ill-fated Titanic. He, his widowed mother, and spoiled little sister, Virginia, are returning to the U.S. from England, accompanied by domineering Uncle Claybourne. Albert's wealthy paternal grandmother in McLean, VA, is determined to oversee the lives of her daughter-in-law and grandchildren. Knowing his mother's desire for independence, Albert attempts to meet a distinguished theatrical producer who is onboard to find employment for her. His shipboard efforts fail, however, with the scrape of an iceberg. With historical accuracy, the orchestra plays on, lights are kept burning, half-full lifeboats are lowered, and passengers debate the seriousness of their situation. Albert is privy to crewmen's conversation about too much speed through the ice fields. He witnesses the desperate pleas of the ship's designer and officers to mobilize the passengers. The boy shoves his sister into a boat but is shamed into staying on deck to prove his manhood. Ultimately flung into the icy North Atlantic, he is one of the few to be plucked from the sea and taken aboard the Carpathia. His mother and uncle are lost, but Albert, Virginia, and Albert's friend, Emily, survive. At story's end, the young man stands up to his grandmother's overbearing demands and begins to discover that her plans for her orphaned grandchildren take their happiness into account. Readers lured more readily by fiction than nonfiction will find suspense, character development, and pathos amid the dramatic events.?Gerry Larson, Neal Middle School, Durham, NC
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