tragedies – Peaceful Reader

Ghosts of the Titanic

2012

168 pages

I plucked this title from the library shelves on a recent visit. I was thinking of my students who just love anything to do with the sinking of the Titanic. As I’ve written about in other posts it is always fitting to find out a book is worthy of its price tag before I buy it for the library.

I wasn’t sure this one was going to be with it until I’d made it more than half way through. I often tell my students that the best part of the book doesn’t come until the middle of the book-good thing I took my own advice. I struggled with the narration, which gave me little empathy for Kevin Messenger, the young man telling the story. He seemed whiny and filled with negative energy and his relationship with his father is particularly difficult. But I love stories that intertwine and this one does just that. Mixed in with Kevin’s story is Angus Seaton’s tale, a 17-year-old seaman who was on the Canadian ship first on the scene to rescue Titanic survivors. Through Angus’s early actions he forever connects his life to the Messenger family. This insider look at those days immediately following the Titanic disaster are little known treasures of information and will delight my students. The fact that this also becomes a real ghost story for Kevin Messenger will make this tale even more thrilling!

Random quote:

Angus had lost count of the number of trips they’d made to the ship. Ten? Twelve? Back and forth to the ship, pulling hard at the oars or taking his turn at the tiller, breath steaming into icy clouds, the grim task never easing up. More bodies to be numbered and recorded, more personal effects to be bagged and tagged. He longed to be back in port, to tear off his clothing, peel away his skin, throw himself into something that didn’t scream of death. (36-37)

The difficult task of pulling bodies from the freezing water and then recording their personal items so they could be identified was a horrific experience for this group of seamen and one that affected many for years after. Angus is overwhelmed and because of his weariness he ends up with an object in his pocket that should have been tagged for one of the bodies. This object links him to the woman throughout his days and makes him crazy with grief, regret and her ghost.

Pick up this book to find out how Angus and Kevin are connected through time.

Happy Halloween.

emma and me (2004)

elizabeth flock

292 pages

I don’t even know where I picked this book up – it does have a second hand sticker on it- but one that I don’t recognize so I can only presume the book has had a history before it fell into my waiting hands. I love it when a book finds you at just the right moment in your life.

The opening sentences slam you:

“The first time Richard hit me I saw stars in front of my eyes just like they do in cartoons. It was just a backhand, though-not like when I saw Tommy Bucksmith’s dad wallop him so hard that when he hit the pavement his head actually bounced. I s’pose Richard didn’t know about the flips I used to do with Daddy where you face each other and while you’re holding on to your daddy’s hands you climb up his legs to right above the knees and then push off, through the triangle that your arms make with his. It’s super fun. I was just trying to show Richard how it works. Anyway, I learned then and there to stay clear of Richard.” (9)

As a reader I was stunned and sad but pulled in by this little voice of eight-year-old Carrie. The abuse she suffers at the hands of her stepfather and her mother’s neglect are juxtaposed around her original family story; one where happiness played an important role and her father was kind and playful. Flock twists the story from Toast, NC to a tiny mountain town where Carrie meets several unusual characters that see right through her family’s struggles. I can’t give you any more details so when you read it the story can unfold and surprise you.

I loved Flock’s writing style and would enjoy reading more of her work. Carrie’s voice will stick with me for a long time to come. Because this book has already been through several readers I want to keep it traveling along. I will send this book to one lucky reader leave me a comment about one striking childhood memory and I will pick one unique answer. Include your email and I will get the book to you quickly!

This book is on my TBR Pile Challenge and the first book I’ve read on my list. Lisa from Books Lists Life encouraged me to read it and it was a perfect book to start with- Thanks Lisa! I hope the rest of my choices thrill me as much as this one did!

*the book does have some pencil marking in it from a child’s drawing hand-this amused me as the story is about a child, it is only on the first few pages and does not interrupt the story in any way but thought I should mention it in case you are one of those paperback book swap people who like pristine books.*

Tag: tragedies

Ghosts of the Titanic by Julie Lawson

emma and me by elizabeth flock + A Giveaway!!