Re-living The Sinking Of The Titanic, 101 Years Later

April 15th, marks the 101st anniversary of the sinking of the RMS Titanic. Dubbed 'The ship of dreams', the luxury cruise liner was like no other. Considered an engineering marvel, the 11-story structure was not just the largest ship to ever grace the seas, but also, one that featured unrivaled grandeur and amenities. It is therefore not surprising that the sinking of the 50,000-ton behemoth within days after its launch, continues to capture the interest of people across all ages, even today.

Over the years, there have been many books written about this epic tragedy - Some completely factual, others loosely based on the facts. However, very few have been written from the perspective of the many young passengers that were also aboard the doomed vessel. This is why 'I Survived: The Sinking Of Titanic, 1912' by Lauren Tarshis is so fun and refreshing.

Written in a historical fiction setting, the book does an amazing job of adopting facts from the real tragedy and weaving them into a heart-stopping adventure starring a smart, inquisitive and brave, albeit fictional young boy, by the name of George Calder.

After spending an exciting two months vacationing in England with their 22-year-old Aunt Daisy, ten-year-old George and his eight-year-old sister Phoebe, are heading home to America, aboard the greatest ship on earth - The RMS Titanic!

For the two young kids that reside in a rural farm in Upstate New York, it is a dream come true. They spend their days swimming in the large pool, investigating all the nooks and crannies that the world’s biggest moving object has to offer and eating delectable meals at the ship’s three restaurants.

Then on the night of April 14th, the first sign of disaster strikes – the luxury boat hits a giant iceberg. But given that everybody in the world knew that the Titanic was unsinkable, there was very little cause for panic. In fact, George along with some of the passengers had a great time tossing around pieces of ice that had landed on the deck. After frolicking for some time, they all retired to their respective rooms to get a good night’s rest, completely confident that the ship’s engineers would be able to repair the ‘minor’ damage that had been caused by the iceberg.

This of course, turned out to be a fallacy and within a few hours it was pretty obvious that the indestructible Titanic was not only sinking, but doing so, at a rate faster than most people had time to react. Added to this was the fact that there were not enough lifeboats to take all the passengers to shore. If that was not enough, when the emergency call to get on the deck came, George realized that his sister Phoebe was missing. She was out searching for him, because he had been exploring the ship till late!

Will George be able to find his sister and help her get to shore? Will he be able to guide the rest of his family and friends including four-year old Enzo and his father Marco to safety? To find out, be sure to read 'I Survived: The Sinking of the Titanic, 1912.'

Resources: I Survived The Sinking of the Titanic