OK YA historical novel on the Yukon gold rush.
( )

Fieldnotes:
Liverpool, September 1940
SS City of Benares, 17 September 1940

2 New Kids Next Door
1 School Fight
Domestic Violence

Air Raids
Incendiary Bombs
Sheltering Under the Stairs

1 Luxury Liner Transporting Evacuees
Incredible Food

1 Departing Navy Escort
1 Zealous U-Boot
2 Torpedoed Ships
Flooded Life Boats
Rough Seas
Hypothermia

The Short Version:
I admit, I had never heard of the tragedy / war crime that was the sinking of the SS City of Benares - a luxury liner that was transporting 90 evacuee children to the safer shores of Canada. I'd put this at an older child (not quite YA) level in terms of detail and writing style - sort of the same level or a little older as a Dear America / Royal Diary type book.

Most of the book takes place in 1940s Liverpool - before the worst of the Blitz, when 12-year-old boys still desperately want to see the planes, collect bits of shrapnel and the whole thing seems more an adventure / a nuisance than a danger. But when Jamie Heneghan's neighborhood is hard hit, his mother insists that he be evacuated as soon as possible, and his father who works down at the docks hears of some places becoming available for evacuees.

There is a fair amount of information about daily life in the '40s that I found very interesting, though I have to admit that the Scouse slang - particularly repeating "phizog" for face over and over again - wore on me a bit. I enjoyed the descriptions of the ship and the unexpected luxury for these kids. I was appalled (though not surprised) at 12 year olds' hygiene habits.

And then the tragedy foreshadowed by setting sail on a Friday 13 hit and the pages flew past as Jamie and the neighbor children scrambled through the chaos to attempt to board their lifeboats in a storm and make it through the long night before rescue finally arrived.

The historical note at the end (and other sources) indicates that of the 90 evacuees, only 13 survived. ( )