Ten-year-old George Calder doesn't mean to get himself into scrapes all the time - it just kind of happens. His curiousity gets the best of him in the most normal of circumstances, but now he's aboard the largest moving object ever built. How can he possibly resist sliding down the banister of the Grand Staircase, sneaking among the immigrants on the lower decks, and creeping into the storage room to see if the rumors about an Egyptian mummy on board are really true? Even with his younger sister, Phoebe, and their recently-widowed aunt keeping their sharp eyes on him, George is determined to explore every inch of the Titanic.
When George sets out on one of his escapades on the night of April 15, he has know idea that it will lead to the most horrifyingly exciting adventure of his life. He's prowling through the ship's underbelly when the great Titanic starts to shake. As he scuttles back to First Class, he hears the news: they've nudged an iceberg. What begins with laughter and snowball fights soon turns into running, screaming, and all-out panic. The ship is sinking. George is not only a child, but a wealthy one. Unlike the lower-class passengers, he has both a life jacket and an escort to where women and kids are being packed into life boats. There's only one problem - his sister is missing. He can't leave her on the doomed ship. He has to find her, no matter what.


As the story of the Titanic unfolds through the eyes of young George, the reader can't help but be swept away in all the terror of that fateful night. We know how the story ends (at least what happens to the ship), but even after all this time, it's an incredible tale. George Calder did not really exist, but he represents the many passengers who scrambled for their lives while the "unsinkable" Titanic plunged to its watery death. Through him, we're there. His story resounds with one chilling question: Would I have survived?

Written for middle-grade readers, I Survived: The Sinking of the Titanic, 1912 is the first in a series of books by Lauren Tarshis about children surviving infamous historical disasters. The next one (available now) concerns shark attacks in 1916 and will be followed by I Survived: Hurricane Katrina, 2005 (available March 2011). My kids and I agree that we need keep our eyes on this exciting, informative and well-written series. You can check it out for yourself on the I Survived website. Oh, and if your school happens to be in the throes of Scholastic Book Fair mania, these books should be available and would make good picks for classrooms, homes and school libraries. 'Course, surviving the Titanic's nothing compared to getting through a school book fair unscathed - if you can survive that particular adventure, you might just deserve a medal :)

(Readalikes: I can't think of any other children's books I've read about the Titanic. Can you?)


Grade: B


If this were a movie, it would be rated: PG for intense/scary scenes (the book's written for younger middle graders)


To the FTC, with love: I received a finished copy of this book from the very generous folks at Scholastic. Thank you!

Usually, hard-boiled crime fiction littered with enough F-bombs to blow the world to smithereens several times over isn't my thing. And yet, I just can't get enough of Irish author Tana French. There's something about her books that keeps me coming back for more. And more. And more. She's penned three novels - I've devoured each one. The woman cannot write fast enough to keep me satisfied!

Like In the Woods and The Likeness, French's newest introduces a compelling cast of fully-realized characters whose lives are about to be blown apart by a gruesome discovery. Faithful Place opens with a cozy domestic scene - undercover officer Frank Mackey is picking up his 9-year-old daughter for a weekend of pizza and kite-flying in the park. Two things which never happen. As soon as Frank steps into his apartment, he spies his voicemail button blinking rapidly. On the other side is the one thing he's always feared: his family. He's spent the last 22 years running from his chaotic childhood in Dublin's inner city with no intention of ever, ever going back. And yet, when "the bubbling cauldron of crazy that is the Mackeys at their finest" (15) comes calling, the ole boy answers.

In Faithful Place, the crumbling neighborhood where Frank came of age, few things ever change. A paint job here, a renovation there - it's enough to get the street in a twitter about folks getting above themselves. So, when a Polish building team finds an old suitcase wedged inside the fireplace of a long-abandoned apartment, tongues really start wagging. Especially when it's revealed to be the property of one Rose Daly, who just happens to be the same young girl who disappeared on the night she was supposed to leave for London with her boyfriend, a 19-year-old local by the name of Frank Mackey. Only Rosie never showed. For the past two decades, everyone - including Rosie's spurned lover - has assumed she's been living it up in England, too la di da to return to her pathetically humble roots. Everyone, it appears, was wrong. But what happened to the apparently love-struck girl with the neon-bright future all laid out before her? How did she end up going exactly nowhere?

Frank, whose scarred heart has always hoped to reunite with his first love, is shaken to his core. Although he's warned off the case by the egocentric Detective Kennedy, he can't keep himself away. He's been on the force long enough to know that the simplest explanation usually solves the crime, which means the answers he's looking for are right here on Faithful Place. Only, Frank's no longer part of the dirty streets, he's a police officer - and if there's one thing the people like less than a no-good Mackey, it's a cop. Especially one who would abandon his upbringing for something as suspect as a better life. If Frank's going to get the answers he so desperately needs, he's going to have to play his cards just right, which means sinking right back into the muck and mire with mates who would happily drown him in it.

As the story of Rosie's last days on Earth slowly unravels, Frank has to face all the ugliness he's been trying so hard to shove behind him: his family's violent, dysfunctional history; the fact that the girl he loved so fiercely might not have felt the same; and the guilt over his part in Rosie's tragic end. Is it, truly, his fault that Rosie died all those years ago? People he's known since toddlerhood think he murdered the sweetest gal on the block. Are they really going to rat out their own to help a monster like him, especially considering his uppity position as one of Dublin's finest? Can anyone, especially a hopeless Mackey, solve a case as cold as this one? Or is Frank doomed to become exactly what everyone always assumed he would be - a futureless nobody dragging himself through Dublin's grimy underbelly with all the other drunks and dole rats?

Like French's other novels, Faithful Place grabbed my attention with its first sentence, yanking me along for a swift, swervy thrill ride that kept me tottering on the edge of my seat, hardly daring to breathe. Although the killer's identity didn't surprise me, the orchestrated inevitability of it all did. French's skillful plotting, masterful character building, and grudging affection for Dublin's saltier citizens makes this one what it is - brilliant.

(Readalikes: In the Woods and The Likeness by Tana French)

Grade: A-

If this were a movie, it would be rated: R for strong language, sexual content and violence

To the FTC, with love: Another library fine find

I usually don't post on Sundays, but I have a few things on my mind that I wanted to share:

So ... today is the last official day of my kids' October Break from school and I have done absolutely nothing. Unless, of course, you count waiting *patiently* for my blood test results to come back from USC while I slowly starve to death on my low-iodine diet. And trying to stay awake for longer than 3 hours at a time. Other than that, nada. Good times, I tell ya, good times. I don't know about you, but I could use a little distraction from my misery. That's where these two fun events come in handy:


I had almost decided to give up the Blog Hop for awhile since there don't seem to be too many new-to-me blogs on there lately, but wow, did last week change my mind. Lots of you stopped by to say hi, reminding me just how big and wonderful this book blogging community is. It really buoyed up my spirits. Thanks for that!

The Blog Hop is hosted by the lovely Jen over at Crazy for Books. Each week, she (or another book blogger) poses a question for us all to answer. This one's a really good one: Basically, what do you do when you start reading a book that you just cannot get into? Do you stick it out or move on?

- For me, it depends on where I got the book. If I bought it or borrowed it from the library, I just put the book down and move on. No biggie. A review book is a little different. If I can't get into a book I've committed to read for a blog tour or other event, I stick it out, if I can. If I can't, I e-mail whoever sent me the book and explain my problems with it. Usually, that kind of honesty is met with understanding. After all, every book is not for everyone, you know? My view is that I have way too many books on my TBR mountain chain to waste time on one I don't like.

How do you handle it?


Follow (My Book Blog) Friday is similar to the Book Hop. It's hosted by Parajunkee, who simply asks what books we're recommending these days.

- I have to mention Faithful Place by Tana French. My review won't post until Monday, but I can tell you now that I loved it. The book is a compelling murder mystery set in Dublin's grimy inner city. If you've read French's other books, you know how skilled she is - she creates well-rounded characters, twisty plots, and stories that just suck you right in. Her novels are definitely rated R, but I can't get enough of them.

Alright, bloggers, go Hop and Follow and find some great new blogs. If you're here because of either the Hop or FF, thank you so much for visiting. Have a look around, leave me a comment, become a Follower, all that good stuff - I'll return the favor ASAP. Oh! Don't forget that my giveaway for a hardcover copy of Wicked Girls by Stephanie Hemphill ends today at midnight. Enter here to win your very own copy of this great Halloween read.

Hoppy Friday, everybody!