Unsinkable Cayenne

Written by Jessica Vitalis

Greenwillow Books (HarperCollins)

978-0-06-331445-0

304 pp.

Ages 8-12

October 2024

 

 

But in middle school

there are two choices:

fit in

or

stand out. (p. 69) 

 

It's 1985 and Cayenne has always lived a nomadic life with her Mom and Dad and now six-month-old sibs Sossity and Bear. They've travelled throughout the U.S. in their van, living off Dad's small disability check from the VA, with Mom homeschooling Cayenne. Cayenne knows that some people may look down on them for being poor and living a hippie lifestyle, but she feels a closeness with her family, especially when she plays her harmonica and Dad plays his guitar and Mom dances, even though Mom has been distracted with the babies. Still Dad decides to settle them down in a Montana town where he's gotten a job at the sawmill, and Cayenne feels like it's where they finally belong and maybe she can feel normal, even if Mom isn't necessarily happy. 

I agreed to this move.

I did not agree 

to sell my soul. (p. 31) 

Still Cayenne is all in. At Sandstone Middle School, Cayenne is determined to make friends. She's keen on the popular girls who play flute in band but she's not quite up to their skills and she is separated from them while she learns the instrument. And though she isn't eager to attach herself to a "loser," she is befriended by Dawn, an awkward girl who is always reading, wearing outfits that reflect her reading, and who plays drums. She also meets Tiff, a popular chatterbox of a girl from art class, who lives on the wealthy side of town. And then there's Beau, a new boy whom Cayenne met while walking their dog, George. Cayenne is smitten and when others suggest that Beau likes her, Cayenne is sent into a tizzy of how to act and what to say. So, as Cayenne desperately tries to fit in, choosing with whom to associate and hide the reality of her family's circumstances, things become even more tenuous. Fitting in becomes even harder when you don't feel like you have the means to belong, whether the money, the family, the clothes, the opportunities, anything. 

Jessica Vitalis, whose earlier middle-grade books The Rabbit's Gift, The Wolf's Curse, and Coyote Queen made quite a splash, doesn't just give us a novel about pre-teen angst. She gives us a story enfolded in many layers of storytelling which add context and insight into Cayenne's own life. From their Titanic-themed social studies unit in which they learn of the disparities between first- and third-class passengers, particularly with respect to their survival, and Cayenne's love of birds and her knowledge of their behaviours, Unsinkable Cayenne goes beyond a kid trying to fit in with her new classmates. She's trying to fit in to her life, her new one and the one she has always had with her family, and she sees it through multiple lenses. She is the new kid but also a poor kid and a kid whose family is atypical in their circumstances. They might not have money to replace her holey shoes and the electricity might have to be turned off to save for rent money, but they also don't have a phone or a TV. Cayenne doesn't complain or see it as a problem; it's just different. Her perspective is both insightful and revealing, and Jessica Vitalis does not sugar-coat their poverty with a happy ending or lottery winning or change in financial circumstances. She makes and keeps it real.

 

The writing is exceptional. Unsinkable Cayenne, told in free verse, flows through Cayenne's days at school and her thinking about her life with vigour and subtlety.

I don't understand why the amount of money

someone has determines how much they are worth. (p. 182)

Jessica Vitalis tells a story for middle-grade readers but with sophistication and lyricism. She's given us a real kid who not only exemplifies the famous Unsinkable Molly Brown of Titanic fame in her tenacity and humble beginnings but also in seeing others beyond class and wealth.

Titanic Tragedy lives on in CanLit

 Image created using Textorizer

 

When the RMS Titanic left Southampton, England on April 10, 1912 for her maiden voyage to New York City, she was lauded as a marvel in design and size, being the largest ship afloat at the time.  When Titanic hit an iceberg less than 400 km from Newfoundland just minutes before April 15, she sadly secured a record as one of the deadliest peacetime maritime disasters of all time.

The 100th anniversary of the Titanic tragedy is due to be commemorated on April 15, 2012, with a variety of memorial cruises, dive expeditions, special movie and audio broadcasts, documentaries, and publications. To provide a comprehensive look at the RMS Titanic and her tragedy, through the words of Canadian authors and publishers, as well as through illustrations, explore this list of titles which includes picture books, novels, and non-fiction, for use in the classroom or for personal interest.
 

PICTURE BOOKS

Polar the Titanic Bear

by Stone Spedden and Daisy Corning

Illustrated by Laurie McGaw

Little, Brown / Madison Press

978-0316806251
1994

Narrated by Polar, a stuffed polar bear, Polar the Titanic Bear, illustrated by Canadian Laurie McGaw, tells the true story of the Spedden family's travels, including their voyage on the Titanic.  Photographs and memorabilia add to the story of the family's survival after the collision with the iceberg.

 EASY READER

Canadian Flyer Adventures #14: SOS! Titanic! 

by Frieda Wishinsky 
Illustrated by Jean-Paul Eid 
Maple Tree Press

978-1897349786
2010

Travelling by their amazing Canadian Flyer sled back to the afternoon of April 14, 1912, Matt and Emily land on the Titanic.  While they enjoy meeting new friends, they also realize that they have only a few hours before the massive ship will hit an iceberg.  Can they do anything to stop the collision or save their new friends?  Should they?

HISTORICAL FICTION

The Mariner’s Curse

by John Lunn

Tundra Books

978-0-88776-672-2
2004

 

Rory, who adores reading all things oceanic, is thrilled to get to travel on a luxury cruise ship, even if it is with his mother and her new husband.  When he meets the elderly Mr. Morgan, Rory is convinced there is something mysterious about the man, who could have been a passenger on the Titanic. 

The Danger Beneath (A Wordsy and Jess Adventure)

by David Boyd

Napoleon Publishing

978-0-921156-17-0

1999

In The Danger Beneath, while Wordsy travels back to April 12, 1912 and onto the Titanic, Jess must rescue her kidnapped cousin Tim from bank thieves he videotaped accidentally.

No Moon 

by Irene Watts 

Tundra  

978-0887769719

2010

 

Fourteen-year-old Louisa, who works as a nursemaid to a London family, accompanies them on their trip to New York aboard the Titanic.  While she tends to her young charges diligently, the sinking of the Titanic brings forth tragic memories of the drowning of Louisa's young brother, Johnny.

That Fatal Night: The Titanic Diary of Dorothy Wilton, Halifax, Nova Scotia, 1912 (Dear Canada series)

by Sarah Ellis 

Scholastic Canada 

2011

One month after the sinking of the Titanic, twelve-year-old Dorothy Wilton shares the details of her ordeal on board the sinking ship, as the means to explain her recent inappropriate actions at school. (CanLit for LittleCanadians review)

Deadly Voyage: R.M.S. Titanic, Jamie Laidlaw, April 14, 1912 (I Am Canada series)

by Hugh Brewster
Scholastic Canada
978-1-4431-0465-4
2011

Returning to Montreal with his parents, Jaime Laidlaw, 14, comes of age while exploring the opulent ship and then enduring its collision with an iceberg. (CanLit for LittleCanadians review)

Ghosts of the Titanic 
by Julie Lawson 
Scholastic Canada  
978-1443100410
2011

Kevin and his family travel to Halifax to claim an old house they've mysteriously inherited.  While exploring, Kevin finds some old photographs and such and begins to have scary dreams about needing to help someone.  One night, he tries to answer the plea for help, and finds himself in a flooded corridor aboard the Titanic. 

Titanic Book One: Unsinkable 

by Gordon Korman 

Scholastic Canada

978-0545123310

2011

Titanic Book Two: Collision Course 
by Gordon Korman
978-0545123327
2011

Titanic Book Three: S.O.S.  

by Gordon Korman  

978-0545123334  

2011 

Gordon Korman's trilogy, Titanic, focuses on four young passengers aboard the grand ship: Paddy, who is a stowaway; Sophie, whose mother has been arrested; Juliana, whose wealthy father shows bizarre eccentricities; and Alfie, who is hiding a secret that would get him kicked off the Titanic.  The lives of these four young people become intertwined and they must work together to solve some hidden mysteries if they are to survive the voyage and the disaster.

NON-FICTION

The Ship That Voted No and Other Stories of Ships and the Sea
by Tony Keene

Lancelot Press

978-0-88999-588-5

1995

This collection of twelve Canadian tales of the sea includes one of the rescue efforts to find survivors of the Titanic.

On Board the Titanic: What it was like when the great liner sank 

by Shelley Tanaka 

Scholastic Canada
978-0590248952
1997

Told from the perspectives of a first-class passenger and the ship's wireless operator, On Board the Titanic presents a rich and child-appropriate introduction to this tragedy.

Titanic Halifax 

by Rob Gordon and Alan Jeffers 

Nimbus

978-1551092751

1998

 

Halifax reporter, Rob Gordon, with his personal connections to the tragedy, provides a guide to Halifax's connection to the Titanic, including artifacts unearthed by Alan Jeffers.

 882 1/2 Amazing Answers to Your Questions About the Titanic 

by Hugh Brewster and Laurie Coulter 
Illustrated by Ken Marschall
Scholastic Canada
978-0439042963

1999

Fact-filled book about all things Titanic, including quizzes, trivia, photographs and the personal stories of survivors.

Inside the Titanic: A Giant Cut-Away Book
by Ken Marschall
Text by Hugh Brewster
Little, Brown & Company
1997
978-0316644303

The stories of real children are used to personalize the amazing illustrations that show the inside layout of the great ship.

Ghost Liners: Exploring the World's Greatest Lost Ships

by Robert D. Ballard and Rick Archbold 

Illustrated by Ken Marschall

Scholastic Canada

978-0590124522
1999

Robert Ballard, oceanographer, recounts his discovery and exploration of the Titanic seventy years after her disappearance, as well as details other ships disasters of the 20th century, like the sinking of the Empress of Ireland in the St. Lawrence River.

Titanic Remembered: The Unsinkable Ship and Halifax

by Alan Ruffman

Formac

978-0887804670
1999

The author, a marine geologist and historian, details in text and numerous photographs, the city of Halifax's response to the tragedy in archiving the evidence and mourning the victims of the Titanic's sinking.

Titanic

by Jim Pipe

Firefly Books

978-1-55407-303-0

2007

Told from the perspective of a reporter on board, Titanic reveals all aspects of the ship and recounts the dramatic events of its tragedy.

Titanic: The Canadian Connection (Amazing Stories) 

by Lanny Boutin

Altitude Publishing

978-1-55439-126-4
2007 

This collection of short stories reveals the Canadian connections with the sinking of the Titanic.

Case Files: 40 Murders and Mysteries Solved by Science

by Larry Verstraete

Scholastic Canada

978-1-4431-0000-7

2011

The sinking of the Titanic is covered in this intriguing collection of historical mysteries, which emphasize the approaches and methodologies used by scientists in solving them.
 

Voyage of the Iceberg: the Story of the Iceberg that Sank the Titanic

by Richard Brown

James Lorimer

978-1459400870

2012 (Third ed.)

Looking at the Arctic Ocean and the North Atlantic at the turn of the twentieth century, Richard Brown's tale tells of the voyage of the iceberg and the animals and ships that cross its path, until its collision with the Titanic.

RMS TITANIC: Gilded Lives on a Fatal Voyage
by Hugh Brewster
HarperCollins Canada
978-1443405300
March 2012

While published as an adult book, young adults fourteen years of age and older will enjoy reading the personal narratives of some of the famous victims and survivors of the Titanic, especially because of Hugh Bewster's exhaustive research and attention to detail (including rarely seen photographs).

Titanic Lives: On Board, Destination Canada 

by Rob Rondeau

Formac Publishing

978-1459500198

April 2012

Marine archaeologist Rob Rondeau focuses on the fascinating stories of ten Titanic passengers, both famous and not.


n.b. Teachers or book-buyers who would like a pdf of this posting can download one here from scribd

That Fatal Night: The Titanic Diary of Dorothy Wilton, Halifax, Nova Scotia, 1912

by Sarah Ellis
Scholastic Canada
978-0-545-98073-9
170 pp.
Ages 8-13
2011

"The Titanic lives on because it is the best of stories.  It has exotic luxury, arrogance, greed, mystery, heroism, self-sacrifice, romance, suspense, vibrant characters, the implacable forces of nature, the power and ingenuity of huge machines and, at its heart, a little empty space, a space just big enough for us." (Sarah Ellis, Historical Note, pg. 147-148)

Sarah Ellis' assessment of the intrigue surrounding the Titanic is absolutely correct, except for Dorothy Wilton, who (fictionally) had a space on the Titanic and wishes she hadn't.  In fact, she'd rather not talk about it at all.  So starts That Fatal Night, just weeks after the disaster, with twelve-year-old Dorothy Wilton having been sent home from her Halifax school for injuring a classmate, Irene Rudge. Dorothy had slapped Irene, but Irene probably sustained greater injuries when she fell back and hit her head.  Now the principal has sent Dorothy home for the remainder of the school year.  Miss Caughey, Dorothy's classroom teacher, gives her a blank notebook in which to write about what happened that spring, and visits Dorothy regularly to check her progress.

Dorothy is determined not to even think about what happened on the ship but does recollect her visit with her grandparents in England, from which she had been returning.  Her visit with her grandparents and Mrs. Hawkins, the housekeeper, and Mrs. Hawkins' children, Owen and Millie, had been a magical time for Dorothy.  Grandfather conducted life lessons using newspaper stories, while Grandmother, an early feminist, introduced Dorothy to their extraordinary friends, including Mrs. Bland, who under her nom de plume had written the popular children's book, The Railway Children.  Dorothy role-played with Millie and Owen, regularly putting on performances.  After such a grand time, returning to Canada with the finicky Miss Pugh, an employee of her father's bank who had gone to visit her aging father, was tedious.

While writing about her visit with her grandparents and thinking about her dreams and such, Dorothy starts to allow snippets of reminiscences: her room at home and the ship's cabin; her frightening dream of melting faces and her visit to Madame Tussaud's wax museum; the freedom and joy of her visit versus the perennial admonitions of Miss Pugh of all things inappropriate, unsuitable, outrageous and vulgar.  And we learn that Dorothy had never wanted Miss Pugh to die.  In fact, Dorothy blames herself for her chaperone's death.

When Dorothy pieces her recollections together, she recognizes, with hindsight, her confusion about her actions and her feelings ("But I have never been so lonely as I was in that lifeboat"; pg.  115), finally acknowledging the fact that there just had not been enough lifeboats for everyone and that many people drowned. Ultimately, Dorothy is able to stop chastizing herself ("I should have been more grateful but being grateful takes heart"; pg. 120) but it isn't until an unexpected visitor speaks with her that Dorothy is set free from her guilt and self-recriminations.

While Sarah Ellis, Governor General Award-winning author of Pick-Up Sticks (Groundwood, 1991) shares extraordinary notes and photographs about the Titanic and its installation in our history and recognizes all the drama that is associated with the great ship's sinking, she puts forth a florid alternative narrative here, one in which a survivor looks within herself in regards to the tragedy.   Dorothy sees her actions as short-comings and inappropriate, not wishing to share these.  Surprisingly, her sorrow is misdirected.  By allowing herself to make mistakes (illustrated when she is finally able to leave a smudge mark in her notebook, rather than tear the page out and rewrite it) and see that there can still be a happy ending (just as in Edward Lear's nonsense poem, The Jumblies, which she memorizes), Dorothy has developed into a thoughtful and insightful young lady with the promise of surviving much more than just a maritime disaster.

• • • • •

The Jumblies and Other Nonsense Verses by Edward Lear can be read online or downloaded from Project Gutenberg at http://www.gutenberg.org

Hugh Brewster presents ... Titanic stories

~ ~ ~

Titanic & History enthusiasts of all ages:

Join 

author of award-winning Canadian historical fiction and non-fiction for young people and adults

  Hugh Brewster

who presents his research, writing and stories

to commemorate

 the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic 

March 24, 2012
Titanic High Tea, with book talk and signing
Creemore Train Station, Creemore, Ontario
4:30 p.m.

March 29, 2012
Titanic dinner and book launch  
for RMS Titanic: Gilded Lives on a Fatal Voyage
Grano Ristorante, Toronto
6:30 p.m.

March 30, 2012

Titanic talk and book signing 

Royal Ontario Museum,  Toronto

7:15 p.m. 

April 4, 2012 
A Titanic Scandal
An illustrated talk about Lady Duff Gordon, a Guelph girl who became a fashion designer and survived the sinking of the Titanic
Guelph Civic Museum,  Guelph, Ontario
7:00 p.m.


For details about additional events in Ontario, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Massachusetts, and the U.K., see Hugh Brewster's schedule of presentations here.

~ ~ ~

Deadly Voyage: RMS Titanic, Jamie Laidlaw, Crossing the Atlantic, 1912

Written by Hugh Brewster

Scholastic Canada

978-1-4431-0465-4

195 pp.

Ages 9-13

2011

Often the voices of the young are rarely heard when major current events occur.  Children and young teens are "protected" by adults who negate their comments, minimize their value or, worse, ignore them completely.  However, as Hugh Brewster demonstrates in Deadly Voyage, the observations and assessments of young Jamie Laidlaw provide a different perspective on the Titanic and its sinking, and perhaps a more accurate one.

Jamie Laidlaw, 14, has been living in England with his parents for the past two years, by virtue of his father's job with the Imperial Bank.  Now, they are returning home to Montreal, with his mom's maid, Rosalie, and their Airedale terrier, Max.  Boarding the RMS Titanic on April 10, 1912 at Southampton, his parents make the acquaintance of numerous wealthy patrons, including Major Peuchen, Mr. Molson (of brewery and banking fame), and Mr. and Mrs. Fortune and their older children from Winnipeg.  Jamie, on the other hand, makes the acquaintance of several passengers who will disembark at Ireland, including eleven-year-old Jack Odell.  As boys will be, Jamie and Jack explore throughout the ship, providing a first-hand account of the design and opulence of the Titanic, from third-class to first-class accommodations, to the different dining rooms, the pool, the Turkish baths, the squash courts and the fully-outfitted gymnasium, and even to the Marconi room from which wireless messages are amazingly sent.  After Jack's departure, Jamie makes a new friend over the animal kennels where Max is being housed.  Johnnie Ryerson is an American boy (with a pet rat he's stowed away on board) who is returning to the States with his family for the funeral of his oldest brother.  Johnnie's curiosity gets the two boys in trouble with their families, as they entertain themselves with some of the Titanic's distractions and pursuing the runaway rat.

When the ship hits the iceberg at 11:40 p.m. on April 14, Jamie's youthful perspective, even after having to put on his life jacket, watching young men kick a chunk of ice around like a soccer ball, is to think, "But imagine this happening to a brand new ship!  What bad luck!" (pg. 78)  However, his optimism flags after watching the few lifeboats get loaded with passengers and observing the courage and cowardice evident amongst the passengers and crew.  While his mother wants him to board a lifeboat, Jamie insists on staying behind to look after his father.  (Johnnie, however, is forced by his father to join his mother and sisters on a lifeboat, a decision that will haunt Johnnie forever.)  Left on the ship with his father, Jamie seems to come-of-age, standing shoulder to shoulder with men to prevent others from clambering into the lifeboats, helping to release another lifeboat, and ultimately, as "every man for himself", plunging himself into a huge wave to get clear of the sinking ship.

Hugh Brewster, whose award-winning non-fiction and fiction emphasize key historical events in Canada's past, demonstrates how to take a well-recorded subject (i.e., the sinking of the Titanic) and see it from a different and fresh perspective.  By giving young Jamie a voice, as he grows from a boy to a young man, and later as a grandfather looking back at the events, Deadly Voyage epitomizes the experiences of the Titanic passengers and others affected by the tragedy.  Coupled with the historical notes, glossary, and photographs, Deadly Voyage provides a comprehensive fictional non-fiction exposé of the Titanic's sinking, which only a seasoned writer such as Hugh Brewster could have produced.

***

Look for additional news about Titanic presentations and book lists in the next week, all in preparation for commemorating, on April 15, 2012, the 100th anniversary of its sinking.

I AM CANADA series

Scholastic Canada introduced the series I AM CANADA in 2010 for readers of ages 9-12.  The following compelling invitation (from www.scholastic.ca/iamcanada/videos) suggests why young readers have chosen to follow this series:

The following titles have been published in the series:

Prisoner of Dieppe: World War II, 
Alistair Morrison, Occupied France, 1942 
by Hugh Brewster
978-0-545-98594-9
2010

Blood and Iron: Building the Railway, 
Lee Heen-gwong, British Columbia, 1882 
by Paul Yee
978-0-545-98593-2
2010

Shot at Dawn: World War I, 
Allan McBride, France, 1917 
by John Wilson
978-0-545-98595-6
2011

Deadly Voyage: RMS Titanic,
Jamie Laidlaw, April 14, 1912  
by Hugh Brewster
978-1-4431-0465-4
2011

Behind Enemy Lines: World War II, 
Sam Frederiksen, Nazi-Occupied Europe, 1944 
by Carol Matas
978-0-545-99066-0
Feb, 2012



Additional information about the series, including relevant videos, discussion guides and activities can be found at the I AM CANADA website

N.B. I plan to review Deadly Voyage: RMS Titanic (Hugh Brewster, 2011) and the Dear Canada book, That Fatal Night: The Titanic Diary of Dorothy Wilton (Sarah Ellis, 2011) in April, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic.