Titanic: A Primary Source History

School Library Journal

Gr 5-8-Each title begins with a short summary paragraph that, despite the name of the series, is followed mostly by standard text. Quotes come from government documents, newspaper articles, letters, poems, telegrams, songs, contemporary interviews, and inscriptions, as well as excerpts from films, speeches, letters, and books. They are set off in sidebars with symbols indicating the type of source, the key for which trails along the bottom of every page. Further opportunities for integrating primary sources are neglected; for example, both "Major Figures" sections have 12 one-paragraph biographies, but none include quotes from the featured person. Photographs, drawings, maps, and reproductions of original documents make up a large portion of the books. Titanic displays many interesting artifacts from the ship, but elements from James Cameron's 1997 film are overused, such as the CD soundtrack cover. While the facts are generally correct, no bibliography or source notes are included. Overall, nothing exists within these pages to make them necessary purchases.-Andrew Medlar, Chicago Public Library, IL Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.