Torpedoed!: A World War II Story of a Sinking Passenger Ship and Two Children’s Survival at Sea

 

Torpedoed! vividly re-creates the events surrounding the sinking of the SS Athenia, the first ship lost in the battle of the Atlantic during World War II. Through first-hand accounts, interviews with survivors, powerful images, and primary sources, award-winning children's author Cheryl Mullenbach brings to life the pre-war environment in both America and Europe, the tense days leading up to the surprise attack by a German U-boat, and the terrifying hours in lifeboats as survivors battled the elements and imagined the worst. The amazing stories of fear and hope are recounted through the words of two American children onboard that day: 11-year-old Russell Park and 14-year-old Florence Kelly. Rich details help young readers empathize with children their age as they face a life-threatening and traumatizing situation that would stay with them all their lives.