Lifeboat 12 by Susan Hood
My name is Rya. I am in middle school and I enjoy reading, writing, swimming, and backpacking.
Kenneth Sparks is nothing but a typical, mischievous thirteen-year-old boy living in London. But when air raids from Germany begin to threaten his city during World War II, he is one of the children between the ages of five and fifteen that receives the opportunity of a new, safe life in Canada. The children’s life aboard the SS City of Benarus, the ship taking the children across the vast Atlantic Ocean, is far more luxurious than they could have ever imagined. Unlimited food, dessert, and toys fill the ship and fulfill the children’s dreams. However, the children have to constantly perform lifeboat drill procedures, just in case of the unlikely event that the Benarus sinks.
A bang, a crash, splintering wood, panic, chaos, and confusion are what fill the night of September 18th, 1940. Ken knows all too well the procedure that he is to follow, get to Lifeboat 8 and not return for anything. But Ken must return to retrieve the expensive jacket that his stepmother, more than 600 miles away, bought for him. Because of this, Lifeboat 8 left him abandoned on the ship, and he is forced to board the already full Lifeboat 12. They only have seven days of water on the lifeboat, hardly enough for the fifty people crammed on the boat.
Lifeboat 12 by the award-winning author Susan Hood is an incredible book based on a true story that is full of family, friendship, and miracles. I loved this quick-read that holds incredible meaning.
