The Titanic disaster

Benoit brings the infamous Titanic debacle into focus in this entry in the True Book: Disasters series. After dispensing a few telling details that illuminate just how massive, opulent, and groundbreaking the luxury liner was, he dives right into the fateful April night in 1912. In a clear, readable account, he tells how a confluence of nasty luck, possible negligence on the part of a few key people, the crew's baffling inexperience, and a dearth of lifeboats contributed to the terrible loss of life after the ship struck an iceberg, filled with water, snapped in half, and sunk to the ocean floor. Disaster stories have plenty of built-in appeal, and this one comes bolstered by a generous array of clarifying illustrations and photos none more haunting than the one showing what the ship's remains look like now, dripping with rust and sea gunk. A good place to introduce one of the modern world's defining disasters and a fine companion to Don Brown's more dramatic All Stations! Distress! (2008).--Chipman, Ian Copyright 2010 Booklist

Gr 3-5-Benoit provides unbiased information that is on target for the intended audience. The main texts flow nicely and encourage the books to be read continuously, not piecemeal like research texts. A lot of the facts are given in comparison to other events, these disasters easier to comprehend. However, the inclusion of the metric measurements in parentheses is sometimes distracting, particularly in Krakatau Eruption. The true/false questions at the beginning of the books help guide readers into the topic. The photographs and reproductions enhance the texts. In Oil Spill, the photos are realistic and well chosen to show that current events can be examined as critically as historical events. In Titanic Disaster, the sequence depicting the ship breaking explicitly shows how a 66,000-ton vessel could just snap in half. Captions provide extra detail, and the inclusion of arrows helps readers decode them and see the relationship between the main text and images. Well-conceived books worthy of purchase.-Catherine Brenner, Bethlehem Public Library, Delmar, NY (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.