Thanks to Nimbus Publishing, the author and NetGalley for a DRC in exchange for an honest review.

The latest addition to the full-colour Compass series for young readers, Children of the SS Atlantic by Danielle Metcalfe-Chenail, tells the horrific story of one of the worst maritime disasters ever recorded.

In 1873 - forty years before the sinking of the Titanic - another of the White Star Line steamships, the SS Atlantic, sank off the coast of Nova Scotia, with the loss of at least 530 lives. Tragically, all women (156) and children (189) perished, with the sole exception of twelve-year-old John Hindley.

This is an engaging and highly informative account, written with clarity and care. The writing is superb, striking a balance between accessibility and historical detail.

Additional features - including discussion questions, a glossary, and an index - make this particularly well-suited for younger readers. The glossary terms are printed in bold throughout the text, a simple but effective tool that supports learning and comprehension.

The book is also richly illustrated, with photographs, maps and drawings that enhance and deepen the narrative.

Overall, this is a compelling and thoughtfully presented account, covering both the lead-up to the disaster and its aftermath, including the subsequent inquiries.

Highly recommended for all those interested in Maritime history.

#ChildrenoftheSSAtlantic #NetGalley

This book is an account of the sinking of the SS Atlantic and the stories behind some of the children who were on the ship that night. I knew nothing about this ship and what happened to it and so found this really interesting.

In particular, I was shocked to learn that they didn't have enough lifeboats on board, like the Titanic. Despite this disaster happening roughly 40 years before the sinking of the Titanic and both ships being owned by the same company, they clearly didn't learn the lesson.

Considering the title, I expected to hear more about the different children on the ship and the different experiences they would have had depending on where and why they were on the ship. There wasn't much information about the survivors either, which is a shame.

This is an interesting book and a decent starting point for anyone looking to find out more about this ship.

Thank you so much to Nimbus Publishing Limited and Netgalley for the ebook read and review.

Wow I’d heard about the SS Atlantic before, but honestly didn’t know much about it at all. What a sad story full of so much tragedy, I’m sad this isn’t given as much notices as it clearly deserves. You always hear about The Titanic but I feel this should be getting way more attention than it has been, it was devastating and full of such loss.

I loved having so much information laid out about what happened, and sharing about the people involved from some of the passengers to some of the saviours. And those willing to take all the glory but did very little, It was so fascinating. I loved that this book provided so much extra within it, including photographs, drawings and maps giving us some extra visuals. I do always appreciate being able to see what we are being told about.

I’m so heavily interested in this piece of history now, I wish I’d found a book like this sooner to inform me about the SS Atlantic. So much happened, so much grief came from it and what seemed like so little care after, it became a big show for a while then a place to pilpher from which is utterly heartbreaking and then left to nothing forgotten and unimportant.

The local people that night cared so much about all these stranger and I loved seeing such a community doing everything they possibly could to help save and protect them. It was just sad that they didn’t get enough recognition for all the hard work that they actually did.

This is such a fanatic book written so wonderfully with so much detail, it’s gripping to learn so much on something I didn’t know much about before hand. This would be a wonderful book to study with children, to share with them this other large ship disaster that occurred and is rarely spoken of.