"Not without my dog!"
It's April 10, 1912, and twelve year-old Sam Harris is traveling across the Atlantic Ocean on the "unsinkable" Titanic to meet his mom, in America, who has just recently remarried.
Sam is surprised and delighted to find out that there are actually dogs on the Titanic. He immediately begins helping with the dogs and taking them for walks. Soon he meets a dog named "Star," a smart Irish Setter. Sam becomes close with his new found friend and begins to spend all his time with Star, much to the horror of his prim and proper guardian, Lady Cabot.
Together with Star and Bucky, Sam's friend, Sam manages to have a fine time on board the ship. Sam also meets other fellow dog lovers, including Robert Daniel and Ann Isham.
Until disaster strikes. The "unsinkable" ship hits an iceberg and begins to sink. Sam refuses to get into a lifeboat until it's too late and must decide what to do. The boy and dog must rely on each other, but can they both survive? One thought flashes through the minds of all the survivers of the Titanic, "It isn't fair. Why are we still be alive when all those other people are gone to the bottom of the ocean?"
I really like this book. I enjoy reading about the Titanic and this book had some interesting people and facts in it. Almost all the characters in this book are real, Sam and a few others are fictional but all the passengers were really on the Titanic.
White Star: A Dog On The Titanic at the back of the book had some fascinating stories about people who had really been on the Titanic. Here is the one I found the most interesting:
Ann Elizabeth Isham spent nine years away from home before she decided to return to U.S.A. and spend the summer months with her brother. She was only one of four women in first-class to die in the Titanic. Titanic experts suggest that Isham brought a large dog with her, possibly a Great Dane. She later refused to board a lifeboat without her dog. A few days after the Titanic sank, a German passenger liner Bremen, passing through the debris, reported seeing a woman, floating lifeless in the water, with her arms around a large dog.
Whether you're interested in the Titanic, history, or just like stories, this is an excellent book!
