The Titanic Tragedy

Gr 8 Up—These three titles offer excellent, thorough, and accurate information for reports or for general reading. Titanic examines safety issues in the shipping industry in relation to the importance of profit, the historical background of the Gilded Age, the effects of privilege on the survivors of the disaster, the economic impact on those less well off, and the way the disaster affected future regulation of the shipping industry. Bus Boycott explores the way that the boycott and resulting Supreme Court decision ruling that segregation of Montgomery's bus system was unconstitutional led to the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement while relaying the risks taken by those who participated in and supported the boycott. Texas Polygamist Raid contrasts child welfare with the importance of freedom of religion. The information in each book is presented clearly and in an interesting manner with first-person accounts and relevant photographs and drawings. Special sidebar sections provide brief background on social and economic history, such as the one in Titanic that compares costs of tickets in 1912 to the value of today's dollar.—Rebecca Sheridan, Easttown Library & Information Center, Berwyn, PA