Surviving a Shipwreck: the Titanic is a narrative nonfiction following the timeline of the sinking of the Titanic, from its launch and sinking in 1912 to its discovery in 1985. The book begins with a hook on the first page – a single paragraph detailing the moments after the ship struck the iceberg. Text is interspersed with historical captioned photos to move the reader through the maiden voyage and sinking as well as the rescue and eventual changes in law (United States and Great Britain) concerning safety measures so that this type of disaster would never occur again.

Typical nonfiction features – table of contents, index, glossary, source notes and so forth are present in this book. An interesting diagram of the sinking itself, from hitting the iceberg to the ship breaking in half and sinking in two pieces is included. Another interesting addition is the short biography of Margaret Brown, who tirelessly aided her fellow passengers as they loaded lifeboats, went on board the Carpathia and later when they got to New York. One last page of note is the guide to surviving disasters with steps to take to keep safe in the unlikely event of a ship sinking.

Pair this book with some of the newer fictional stories about the Titanic to give students more history about the event. Surviving a Shipwreck: the Titanic will be a riveting read for your upper elementary readers and a nice addition to the nonfiction about the event.