Titanic Sinks!

Employing the recently recovered journal of a fictional journalist on board the Titanic and the magazine for which he worked, Barry Denenberg has seamlessly and expertly blended fact and fiction to create a gripping re-telling of the Titanic's doomed voyage. Titanic Sinks! is well-researched and documented with extensive use of period photos. Timelines, menus, and more are also included in this large-sized picture book for older readers.

As historical fiction, Titanic Sinks! is a phenomenally successful exercise in creating an exciting method of presenting history to young readers. As nonfiction, Titanic Sinks! is a wealth of well-documented facts, quotes, photos, and timelines from one of modern history's worst and best-known show more disasters. As a "unique presentation of fact and fiction," as stated on the book's jacket, I find Titanic Sinks! mildly troubling. Barry Denenberg has done such a tremendous job of creating the fictional Modern Times magazine, complete with masthead, table of contents, an explanatory "Letter from the Publisher," and even editor's notes, that it will be difficult for readers (both young and old) to discern fact from fiction. Granted, there is "A Word from the Author" in the book's final pages which explains the melding of fact and fiction, however, a reader might easily pass over the author's note, or be so convinced by the previous publisher's letter and editor's note that he is left confused and unsure of what is fact and what is fiction.

That being said, I would not discourage anyone from reading this compelling account of the Titanic's sinking. In fact, I highly recommend it, but with a word of caution that some explanation may be in order. Alternatively, it would make excellent subject matter for older students to learn the process of determining authenticity in a work of nonfiction.
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I enjoyed this book for two reasons. The first reason is for the plot of the story. The book goes through what happened to the Titanic in great detail. The reader can imagine the ship splitting in half and the mass horror that was going on through the details that were being said. The plot which is a true story opens up the readers eyes to what actually happened to real lives that day at sea. The plot allows the reader to feel suspense and tension while reading because you do not know what is going to happen next. The second reason I enjoyed this book was for the story to push readers to think about a difficult topic. The story of the Titanic is real, which is scary to think about. The story makes the reader think about what they would show more have done if they were ever in a situation like the titanic. Would they jump ship? Get in the lifeboat before others? The story makes the reader really think about what they would if this ever happened to them. The big idea of this book is everything can change in a split second so never take anything for granted. The story of the Titanic only happened because of something that took a split second to happen. The big idea makes readers know that they should tske their life as a gift and treasure each day. show less

Using a fictional newspaper, The Modern Times, this book presents information about the Titanic in an engaging format. A fictional diary, entries based on "scrupulous research", allows readers to experience the sinking as it happened. There are many books about the Titanic, with more coming out each month as we approach the 100th anniversary, but this one stands out for its unique format and visual appeal.

Denenberg presents the facts of the Titanic catastrophe framed in a 1912 special edition of a fictitious magazine called Modern Times and excerpts from the journal of a Modern Times correspondent found after the sinking. A handsomely designed, dramatic and unique presentation of the story illustrated with actual photographs of the Titanic and people mentioned in the narrative. This is sure to be popular as the 100th observance of the tragedy quickly approaches.

"Titanic Sinks!" is the tragic story of the cruise liner Titanic that sunk on its maiden voyage to New York. The haunting trip is explained in this book and it goes into detail about how it was built, newspaper clippings about it and much more. This book is a very interesting read especially the actual newspaper clipping that are used within the book.

This is a historical text about the Titanic Ship that sank. It includes real pictures and journal entries.

I really like this book and learning more about the events of the titanic! Great book for kids to learn about this tragic historical event.

In this portrayal of the Titanic and its doomed voyage, a series of origi - nal articles from 1908 to 1912 pro - mote historical thinking and analy - sis.