The historical fiction tag first peaked my interest for this title. Other than a certain popular movie and an ample supply of non-fiction accounts of the unfortunate tragedy, I’d come across very few fictional stories for middle graders about Titanic’s final voyage.
This is the second book in the Jack and Emmie series after they visited 1940 London in The Blitz Bus. The Titanic Tunnel is a separate story so you’ll have no problem if you choose to start here as your first adventure. It begins when Jack and Emmie are on a school field trip.
Visiting Belfast to see where Titanic was built, they step back to 1912 and discover the great ship itself. All too soon, they find out that the way home is blocked, and Jack gets dragged off to work by one of the crew. Who is the mysterious stranger lurking in the shadows, and can they solve his time riddle to escape from the doomed ship before it is too late…?
The third person narration follows their journey. They plan to disembark before the glorious ship sinks, but after Emmie meets Mary and her family, she decides to help them be saved despite their status as 3rd class passengers. Those privileged to be in First class have priority on everything, including who eventually lives or dies as there are not enough life boats to accommodate all passengers.
Time is ticking down and the fast paced plot will keep you guessing right to the end as to whether history is changed. There you will find out if Jack and Emmie get back to the present or go down with the ship.
BOOK BIRTHDAY: May 12, 2022 PAGE COUNT: 260
FIVE THINGS TO LIKE ABOUT—THE TITANIC TUNNEL by Glen Blackwell
1. Details about the separate classes on the Titanic will be surprising to young readers. Based on your class level, you had certain rights and locations where you go on the ship. The upper class also got the best cabins on the top decks while the less privileged were crammed into lower deck quarters.
2. The true life story of young Mary was a unique twist saved for the final pages.
3. You’ll discover the reasons why the unsinkable Titanic never should have been labeled that way.
4. The story focused on the tough life working on an ocean liner, especially for the employees in the kitchen. There they spent long hours preparing and serving thousands of passengers and crew.
5. The story encourages readers to find more research into the sinking of the Titanic. A good place to start would be last years non-fiction title HISTORY SMASHERS: THE TITANIC by Kate Messner.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Glen Blackwell lives in Suffolk, England. He has a career in finance and The Titanic Tunnel is his third book. Inspired by bedtime reading with his 3 daughters, Glen loves to bring stories to life for young readers.
For more about Glen’s books visit his author web page and Amazon.
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COMMENTS ARE WELCOME BELOW!
Always in the Middle... 
It’s a good set-up for a book series, our heroes can be sent anywhere! Sounds an exciting story, though I wish they could save everyone! There’s a Titanic exhibition in Belfast which is meant to be incredible, if you ever are in this part of the world!! 🙂
This sounds like a great book to learn things about the Titanic that we may not have known about, like how the separate classes worked. Thanks for sharing it this week.
You have my interest in this title. I have always been fascinated with the Titanic, but realize that I haven’t read any MG books about it. Time travel is perfect. The classes were rigid at that time. (And, I love to go on cruises.)
Oh, and a huge thank you for sending me Hope Wins — received it today. Very kind of you!
The Titanic story is always something that grabs attention. Even though we know what’s going to happen to the ship!
This sounds fantastic. I recommended it to Elliott to read! (I wish I had enough time to read it myself)
I love historical fiction and time travel. This sounds like something I will like. I’ll put it on my list. Thanks for telling me about it.
Sounds very interesting.