I Survived The Sinking of the Titanic, 1912

With the same exciting plot as the chapter book, Lauren Tarshis's I Survived the Sinking of the Titanic, 1912 (Scholastic 2010) is redone here as a full-color graphic novel. George Calder is ten-years-old and a first-class passenger on the Titanic. He is traveling with his sister and aunt to New York. George loves to explore the ship but has a knack for getting into trouble. We see the tragic events of the Titanic through George's eyes as he goes off to explore the cargo hold on that ill-fated night. His unfortunate sister follows him and gets trapped down below in third class. This graphic novel adaptation keeps the plot fast-paced and exciting as it combines swift action with historical facts. An appendix also includes both color and black-and-white historical photos and facts about the Titanic. Due to the fast-paced plot and vivid full-color pictures, this novel is an excellent way to engage struggling or disinterested readers. The title could easily be paired with the traditional chapter book as a differentiation strategy as the plot of both novels is exactly the same. In fact, it could be an advantage in your classroom to study both books side-by-side to discuss the advantages of text versus graphics and how the illustrator chose to visually depict certain scenes. I would highly recommend this book for all elementary school or children's library collections.