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Reviewed by: Lisa Rice, Middle School Librarian Title: Abandon Ship! The True World War II Story About the Sinking of the Laconia
Author: Michael J. Tougias and Alison O'Leary Series: True Survival series, book 1
Publisher: Christy Ottaviano Books: Little, Brown and Company
Year: 2023 Good for Grades: 4-8 Genre/Type of Book: historical, narrative non-fiction, books about war, military books
Content Warnings, or things that other School Librarians should be aware of: war related content
Recommended for a school library: Yes Reason(s) for choosing the book: I love narrative non-fiction about wars and the military and survival and I liked the cover drawing of a large sinking ship. I had not heard of the Laconia before and was interested to learn more!
If you were tasked by the publisher with writing a short quote for the back cover of this book, what would it be:
"The Titanic, take 2."
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Review:
I love narrative non-fiction as I find true events to be more interesting (and often more bizarre) than anything we can make up! This was a good read, especially for Titanic fans as there seemed to be a lot of similarities, including a spunky survivor named Molly (Molly Davidson instead of the unsinkable Molly Brown, of the Titanic fame). I have come to the conclusion that if I need to get on a large ocean liner, I am changing my name to Molly! The book includes a table of contents, a list of main characters, an introduction, pictures in the middle of the book, and at the end of the book, an epilogue talking about the lives of the survivors, a glossary, a bibliography and some online sources. I thought the Introduction did a nice, concise job of giving some background information and setting up the book and making me excited to get started!
The Laconia was a 600 foot, almost 20-ton British ship that had just discharged thousands of British troops to fight German soldiers in North Africa. It was once a luxury ocean liner that went between Liverpool, England, and New York but now was being used for military purposes. Usually ships like this would travel in a convoy with other ships for protection but at this time, most naval ships were already aiding invasions elsewhere, so the Laconia was on its own. And German U-boats were "dreadfully effective." Interestingly, the Laconia shared a name with a ship that was sunk by German torpedoes in 1917 which should give you an idea how this story turns out.
The first half of this book was so interesting! I loved reading about the war, the submarines, and how effective they were. I think middle schoolers would like it as well, and it would make a great book talk! I thought it was interesting that even after the Titanic, the Laconia did not have enough lifeboats on it for all the passengers. The ship was torpedoed in no.1 and no. 4 holds (both holds were full of passengers) and sank at 9:20pm on September 12, a little over an hour after the first torpedo struck. The ship's secret codes and logbooks were immediately put in weighted bags and dropped into the ocean to keep this information from the Germans. There are sharks, whales, and barracudas added into the mix.
Once the lifeboats are filled, oddly, I found the book a little boring. Maybe because it is a lot of the same days, over and over again, just trying to survive. The lifeboats are spotted and rescue is considered. German U-boats had a code of conduct that they did not kill survivors, but that code did not apply to all nations and the survivors have some additional excitement.
Overall, I liked the book (the first half was so interesting and the second half, in my opinion, was not as great) and I think middle schoolers mostly would too. It would make a great companion book to go along with a unit on World War II. The chapters are not overly long so I could see a social studies teacher reading a chapter a day to engage students on a World War II unit. There are some pictures in the middle of the book and I wish there were more. This book makes me want to explore submarines a little more closely. I think it would make a great book for a book talk- sinking ships, sharks, war- there's a lot to discuss! I also think this book would appeal to students who like the I Survived series and are looking to branch out.
I think based on the cover, this book would appeal to several groups in my library- the I Survived fans, the Titanic fans, and the adventure and survival book fans. While there are some longer names in the book, I think it is a shorter, fast read that also could appeal to some. Throughout the book, even though it is wartime, and some horrible things do happen, there are themes of showing kindness, compassion and courage that is worth a discussion.
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Find resources for Abandon Ship! at Teachingbooks.net
For more information about this book, see the Publisher's Website