By Sarah Jane

Published 2018

AR level: 5.8

AR points: 7.0

I suggest 4th through 7th grade.

I ran across this novel on a recent trip to Branson, Missouri, home of the largest Titanic museum (you had no idea, did you?). While the story had my children swearing off cruise ships for life, I found myself fascinated once again by history of this tragedy. Maybe that’s because I had relatives who had planned to take the ship (and they were not of the first-class variety). Maybe it’s because folly led to death, and the personal stories of loss still get me in the gut.

Maiden Voyage offers the story of three passengers, one in first, one in second, and one in third class. The three girls are linked, and the book plays with that drama until the real chaos of the sinking begins. Jane does a great job capturing the confusion and heartache, while still giving us so much hope.

I highly recommend this as a mother-daughter read together, but it’s perfect for anyone of any age interested in the story of the unsinkable ship.

Description from B&N:

Isabella is shocked when her parents book her passage on the incredible Titanic and inform her that she’ll be sailing by herself. She is given an envelope and told the contents will explain everything, but she is forbidden from opening it until the boat reaches the U.S.

Lucille is worried over her mother’s poor health, and her father is always distracted, never around. Left to her own devices, Lucille discovers some dangerous secrets that could tear her family apart.

Abby is desperate. She’s all her little brother has in the world, and her only hope is start a new life in New York. But the only way to do that is to smuggle her little brother aboard the Titanic and hope they can last the week without him getting caught.

Three girls, three different classes on the ship, yet their pasts and futures are more intertwined than they know–and their lives are about to be forever changed over the course of the Titanic’s maiden voyage. That is, if they don’t all drown in secrets first.