View source for Titanic: An Edwardian Girl's Diary 1912 by Ellen Emerson White

{{infobox2
|title=Titanic: An Edwardian Girl's Diary 1912
|author=Ellen Emerson White
|reviewer=Sue Magee
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
|summary=A lightly-fictionalised look at the maiden voyage of RMS ''Titanic''.  It's neatly done and a good read for Key Stage 2 and 3 pupils.
|rating=4
|buy=Yes
|borrow=Yes
|pages=176
|publisher=Scholastic
|date=April 2012
|isbn=978-1407131412
|website=
|video=
|aznuk=1407131419
|aznus=B007HOGDVW
|cover=1407131419
}}

Margaret Anne Brady had been at the orphanage for several years when one of the Sisters told her that she'd been asked to accompany a lady who was crossing the Atlantic.  This was a dream come true for Margaret as he only relative - her brother William - lived in Boston and he'd been trying to save up her fare so that she could join him in the USA.  Mrs Carstairs is wealthy and she and Margaret will be travelling First Class - on the maiden voyage of RMS ''Titanic''.  All Margaret's dreams seemed to be coming true at once.

It's a clever device to use an intelligent girl from an orphanage as the narrator.  Recording what happens in her diary she neatly points up the luxury of Claridge's Hotel and the expense of being fitted with 'suitable' clothes for the crossing, whilst the children at the orphanage wore cast-offs.  There's no self-pity about Margaret - she's too excited about getting to see her brother again - and no envy either.  It's simply very astute observation.  Once she's on The Titanic the descriptions become very vivid, particularly with the contrasts between First Class and steerage and even - as tragedy unfolds - between women and children - and their menfolk, or passengers and the crew.

I cried when ''Titanic'' sank. Margaret's descriptions are factual but brought the situation home to me as other books have not.  There's nothing gratuitous in the telling but somehow the few words from the authentic voice of a child in her early teens tugged most sharply at the heart strings.  Margaret is a fictional character and the telling is lightly fictionalised so far as her part is concerned, but is otherwise a factual account of what happened on that terrible night.  It makes excellent background reading: the young reader is gong to absorb a lot of facts whilst being absorbed by a good story.  It's learning with a light touch.

I'd like to thank the publishers for sending a copy to the Bookbag.

For more stories of how people coped in perilous situations you might like to look at [[Deadly Peril and How To Avoid It by Tracey Turner]].

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[[Category:Confident Readers]]