Fascinating Read

As the 100th anniversary of the Titanic disaster approaches (April 14, 2012), expect to see many new books being released to commemorate this historic event. The innumerable stories written about the disaster, whether fact or fiction, have always been fascinating to adults and children alike.

I have just finished reading the latest addition to the Children's Room collection, Titanic Sinks! by Barry Denenberg and let me tell you I couldn't put it down. The book is filled with photographs, eyewitness accounts, actual newspaper articles from Modern Times: Your World Illustrated and more but what I found most fascinating was the journal kept by S. F. Vanni, the chief correspondent of the Modern Times, who was a passenger/reporter on the Titanic. Vanni's notes begin as the Titanic leaves port and continues until the ship is sinking (his last line was "It's t"). His waterlogged journal was salvaged and preserved. This is its first appearance and it is presented unedited.

As the book's dust jacket blurb states, "This is the ultimate ''you are there" experience---welcome aboard!"