Have you
heard about a great ship called Titanic?
A hundred years ago, in the spring of 1912, the Titanic was the largest
and most majestic ocean liner on the open seas.
It was the best of the best. It
was called ‘the ship of dreams’. It was
also called ‘unsinkable’. On its first voyage, all kinds of people were aboard--over 2200--including the richest of the rich, the poorest of the poor, the friendly, and the fearsome. Imagine what it would have been like to be a passenger, steaming to New York on the magnificent Titanic.
Now, imagine
what it was like to be a fourteen-year-old street orphan in Ireland, who had
gotten himself and his best friend, Daniel, into some serious trouble with a
ruthless gangster. While running for
their lives, Paddy Burns was forced to leave Daniel behind and become a stowaway
on board the Titanic, where he soon found all the secret passageways and good
places to hide.
Have you ever
been embarrassed by your parents? Paddy’s
new friends, Sophie and Juliana had been.
American Sophie’s activist mother was arrested in many different places while
making speeches for women to have the right to vote. Julie’s father, of the English nobility class,
was much too fond of strong drink and gambling. Junior ship's steward, Alphie’s father shoveled coal into the blazing furnaces
that powered the Titanic.
As Paddy
looked out at the endless, cold, black, Atlantic Ocean, he was thinking….only 10 days ago he had been living on the
streets of Belfast, picking pockets to survive. The great Titanic had been nothing more than
an immense form under construction, with four towering smokestacks that cast
shadows over him, Daniel, and half the city. ...Daniel, the best friend a lad could ever have. Was he dead because of my mistake? All I have left of him is his beautiful drawing of the great ship, showing a mysterious, long gash along its side... But the world continued to turn, and the ship
continued to sail. I had to live here
and now, not in the past. If surviving
made little sense, the alternative made that much less. So, to the matter at hand. He needed somewhere to go—a place where the
officers would not find him….
I think you
would find sailing on the Titanic with Paddy Burns especially exciting--exploring
every inch of the great ship, getting to know the other passengers, and trying
to stay alive. Find out in three fast-moving historical fiction books by Gordon
Korman: Titanic 1; Unsinkable, Titanic 2; Collision Course, and Titanic 3;
S.O.S.
No comments:
Post a Comment