By Deborah Heiligman
New York: Godwin Books, 2019. Informational.
In the midst of World War II, the British government elected to evacuate children out of major cities where they would be safe from German bombs. In 1940, a select group of children and adults boarded the SS City of Benares ocean liner to sail to Canada and safety. Then, just before midnight, a German torpedo hit the passenger ship resulting in one of the worst sea tragedies involving children in all of World War II. Of the 90 children on board the SS City of Benares, only 13 survived - their remarkable stories of heroism are carefully depicted in this book.
Deborah Heiligman is an exhaustive researcher, and her latest offering matches the success of her Printz Honor winning books. Told in real-time with shifting perspectives, this book builds tension and momentum towards the titular disaster. For those who survive the initial disaster, their ordeal is only beginning as the pajama-clad children and their chaperones struggle to survive on lifeboats. This enthralling book is nonfiction for readers who don't like nonfiction and history for readers who don't like history. This is an engaging narrative nonfiction for all types of readers.
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