Exploring the Titanic by Robert D. Ballard

Exploring the Titanic. by Robert D. Ballard. Scholastic, 1988. 64 pages.

Review/Personal thoughts:  Sometimes real life events provide some of the most dramatic stories.  This is the case with the ocean liner R.M.S. Titanic, which was the largest ship ever built, and its first voyage was also its last.  The book details the construction of the Titanic and includes amazing facts like, if the titanic had been stood upright it would have been taller that any building at the time (1912). There are incredibly detailed cutaway views of the ship in full color illustrations.  The dramatic account of the Titanic’s first voyage reads like a great fiction novel.  One eerie fact presented in the book was that in 1898, an American writer had written a book called The Wreck of the Titan, in which an “unsinkable” passenger ship sails from England to New york, strikes an iceberg and sinks and does not have enough lifeboats for all of the passengers. The story of the Titanic exactly! A great feature of the book is that it goes beyond the historical accounts and invites the reader to become informed about the modern locating and subsequent exploration of the wreckage of the Titanic. This aspect in itself is fascinating. Criss-crossing miles of ocean using scientific equipment to attempt to locate the wreckage 12,000 feet below the surface and then exploring the wreckage in a 3-man submarine. Absolutely phenomenal photographs and illustrations enhance this account of an incredible accomplishment. The credibility of the book is solidified with the fact that the author was one of the scientists who located the wreckage and explored it in the 3-man submarine. I give this book the highest recommendation for tween readers!

Genre: Non-Fiction

Reading Level: 6.7 Interest level: Ages 8 to 13.