By Nina Schuyler, The Children’s Book Review
Published: August 9, 2012
June shrugged off school’s schedule—the drop offs and pick-ups and the packing of lunch. Summer seemed to stretch out like a wide open lawn. But the acreage quickly filled with the schedule of camps—with drop offs and pick-ups and the packing of lunch.
Right about now, there’s something in the air. Maybe it’s the lighting or a new scent. But you begin to feel that summer is nearing its end. Before the scaffolding of the school schedule is fitted again, there is another attempt to get rid of routine. This, I think, is the real heart of summer. An earnest attempt to be schedule-less, to open up to unpredictability, maybe even to lose the concept of time. How? Travel. People pack their bags and go. Somewhere. Anywhere. Stay-over-night camp, relatives in another state, another city, anywhere other than where you are, it really doesn’t matter, just as long as rhythms and routines are set aside.
In honor of the real heart of summer, here’s a list of books that send their main characters on a journey, a trip, somewhere new. (And if you and your family didn’t pack your bags this summer, here is the beauty of a book—the vicarious experience of travel.)
by Gregory Mone
In Dangerous Waters: An Adventure on the Titanic, by Gregory Mone, twelve-year-old Patrick Waters sneaks onboard the Titanic. Also on the ship are a book collector and a thief who plans to steal one of the collector’s prize editions. And, of course, the ship is going to sink. Mone has written a real page turner, but not at the sacrifice of language. His narrative world is rich with specific details, making it easy for the reader to imagine. “At Queen’s Road he spotted her looming in the distance. She was a mountain! A self-contained city of iron and steel: eight hundred and eighty feet long. Nearly two hundred feet tall. More than four hundred thousand rivets. How could she even float?”
Ages 9-12 | Publisher: Roaring Book Press | March 13, 2012
By Geoff Rodkey
Travel to a place where pirates are your neighbors with The Chronicles of Egg: Deadweather and Sunrise by Geoff Rodkey. Thirteen-year
By Gregory Mone
The 100th anniversary of the sinking of Titanic is on April 15th, and the wave of events and films and commemorations has already begun. A luxury cruise will soon take passengers to the site of the ship’s demise. Kate and Leo, leaning out over the bow, will return in 3D. At some parties, guests will be served the same dishes that Titanic passengers enjoyed on their journey.
A few years ago I would have thought this was all a little much. I wasn’t a Titanic fanatic. Initially I was more interested in the fascination itself. Why did kids and adults become so obsessed with this tragedy? As I started reading more and more about the great ship, its passengers and crew, and that fateful night, I quickly found myself transformed into another passionate consumer of Titanic lore. I bought too many books, settled into chat rooms to discuss the details of the boilers, and read hundreds of passenger biographies. At one point I spent a whole day studying blueprints. Or maybe it was two days.
In my new book, Dangerous Waters: An Adventure on Titanic, there aren’t any blueprints, but the ship itself is a character. A mythic, unbeatable hero that proves to have a fatal flaw. The story follows a boy named Patrick Waters as he journeys from the steaming hot boilers in the bowels of the ship to the elegant reading and smoking rooms on the upper decks.
In my new book, Dangerous Waters: An Adventure on Titanic, there aren’t any blueprints, but the ship itself is a character. A mythic, unbeatable hero that proves to have a fatal flaw. The story follows a boy named Patrick Waters as he journeys from the steaming hot boilers in the bowels of the ship to the elegant reading and smoking rooms on the upper decks.
Patrick also becomes friends with a passenger named Harry Elkins Widener, a wealthy collector of rare books. Harry isn’t one of the better known passengers – his father scores a passing mention in the Titanic movie, but not Harry himself – yet he was easily one of the most intriguing.
Before boarding Titanic, Harry visited a London dealer named Bernard Quaritch and purchased a number of expensive books. Quaritch offered to ship them all back, but Harry insisted that he wanted to take one with him. He said he’d want it with him in case he was shipwrecked.
I was amazed when I read about this true story – how eerie! And when I found out that the author of that precious book was Sir Francis Bacon, a philosopher with a fondness for codes and secret societies, my imagination got the better of me. What if Bacon had hidden some kind of message inside? And what if certain villainous, unscrupulous individuals were after that message as well?
Oh, the villains. I’m extremely fond of Rockwell and Berryman, the eccentric bad guys in Dangerous Waters, even if they do make life difficult for young Patrick. But I’m not certain I really could have brought them to life without the help of the ship itself, with its contrasts of sumptuous state rooms and simple crew quarters, its hidden passageways and labyrinthine interior.
This 100th anniversary commemoration shows that Titanic herself lives on through the continued fascination of adults like me and the innumerable kids who rush up to their librarians demanding to know more, more, more about the ship. I’ll admit: I won’t be goin
Sounds like a fun read, Kim. And I always need more "boy book" recommendations. Don't know why I haven't heard of this book. Thanks!
Yeah, the "Fish into water" concept sounds promising. Thanks!
Thanks for visiting, LJ and Joanne!
I first heard of this book last year, from my son. His teacher was reading it aloud to the class each day. Fish was all he talked about until it was finished, and then he bought his own copy at the book fair and read it all over again on his own.