The Watch That Ends the Night: Voices from the Titanic

3Q 2P Mine (3Q 4P VOYA)
This novel in verse tells the story of the fateful voyage through a multitude of voices: immigrants, children, captains, violinists, to a ship rat. Capturing a host of voices and experiences, one can get a feel for all those that were part of the devastating experience in fresh and imaginative new way. Though there were very few teen characters present, they were fleshed out while other characters experiences were still relatable. Still, I had a hard time imagining many teens picking up this book without persuasion, and it might be a hard sell unless they were doing a unit on the Titanic. It is long and some of the characters are more interesting than others, and some felt that they were pushed in for history’s sake. I was surprised that VOYA thought it would have a greater appeal. I did appreciate the variety in the verse style when different characters were talking.

This was a very entertaining audio book, performed like a play with three different character actors playing the many voices represented. Although you already know the story of the Titanic, Wolf has managed to offer a fresh perspective and story telling style.

I'm sure it's a fun book to read, but I highly recommend it as an audio book choice. It would be particularly entertaining for a family with older kids. Younger children might be scared by the talk of dead bodies (one of the narrators is an undertaker tasked with collecting and preparing some of the bodies recovered from the ocean. . I'd say it would be suitable for middle school and older. Great road trip audio book choice! ( )

So much has been written about the Titanic, it's hard to imagine an author finding a fresh perspective but Allan Wolf pulls it off and quite brilliantly. The voices of the captain, crew members, passengers from all three class, the shipboard rats, the embalmer searching for bodies floating among the wreckage, and even the iceberg are brought vividly to life in verse. Like his New Found Land, this is unique, engrossing historical fiction. ( )

Really enjoyed this! Historical fiction, told in verse, from a few dozen passengers and crew aboard the Titanic. My favorites? The rat, the baker, and the iceberg. ( )

The Watch That Ends The Night is a very good book for anyone interested in history, ships, or the history and balance of the human race. Although the book was very good, it is interesting mostly to those who enjoy learning about the human race and how they act when they are either on or a few days from boarding a large ship. The book itself may have been more interesting had it not focused on getting on the ship and being on the ship. Out of 480 pages only about 60 pages actually discussed the chaos of the disaster of the Titanic. Considering the fact that the story is told by 24 people each having their own different ambitions and opinions it is understandable that this may not be the all-time-favorite book for people who enjoy studying shipwrecks and other disasters.
The best and most interesting part for people interested in history and what caused the Titanic to sink would probably focus on the last 12 pages after the actual story ended because it includes various interesting facts that, really, anyone would enjoy. The facts at the end of the book include: what happened to the survivors, the number of fatalities, the percentage of people from the various ticket classes who died. Also, what is interesting about the book is that it is told from so many different perspectives and the fact that all of the people were actually on the boat, compared to the many books and movie franchises that included fictional characters in their stories. In the book there is always one person who you really don’t like because you either find them ignorant or it is too difficult to relate to them, for instance it is incredible difficult to relate to someone in first class because of how rich they are and how naïve they can be when it comes to the poor and less fortunate. In that time period it was believed that it was the fault of the poor to be of limited means and that the poor have the ability to change there status, but are not deserving. What really makes the story interesting though is that it is also told by the iceberg, and the ship rat. Either way, you love the majority of the characters, such as the Jamilia, the refugee, or maybe it is Margret Brown also known as “The Unsinkable Molly” who is a supporter of The Women’s Rights Movement. Overall, I find this to be a great book for anyone wanting to learn about people from the early 1900s, or anyone who just cares about learning a different perspective on life. ( )