Collette lives in Greenwich Village, New York City, in 1929 with her mother, older sister Genevieve, and younger brother Antoine. Their father died in a factory accident when Collette was two, and she has always been frail. Her mother won't allow her to work, even though times are tough and the family could use the income. She is only allowed out once a week to get groceries at Walter's store. A clerk there, Claude, has captured her attention. On a weekly grocery run, Collette sees Walter crying. It turns out it would have been his brother William's 40th birthday, but he died on the Titanic in 2012. Perhaps emboldened by this personal exchange, and realizing that the store is short staffed, Collette offers to help clean and organize the store in order to pay down her mother's debt. She enjoys feeling useful, and working at the store is a timely move. The stock market crashes, and her family are concerned about their jobs. Antoine's pay is cut, and he considers leaving school. At the mother's work, all of the Negro women (the term used at the time, and also in the book) are let go. Collette is a little surprised at how vehemently her mother defends Black people, and is surprised at how people like her mother's friend, Nadine, are treated. As she continues to work at the store, she hears more and more about Walter's experiences on the Titanic. Collette has long had dreams about being saved from drowning, and these all start to make more sense. Some of her mother's obsessions, like making sure she and her siblings stay out of the sun, also are easier to understand when family secrets are revealed. Eventually Collette's disobedience is found out, but life improves for the family.
Strengths: There are some great twists in this that I don't want to spoil because they are very clever and make a lot of sense. Looking at both the Titanic disaster and the Great Depression was a good idea, especially with the multicultural inclusions. Hearing details from Walter was a good way to introduce them. The way Collette's poor health was treated didn't surprise me, since her treatment of complete rest all the time was fairly widespread, but it was good to see her break out on her own and get a job to help support her family. This is exactly the kind of book I would have adored in middle school. The light romance between Claude and Collette was a nice touch as well.
Weaknesses: I could have used fewer repetitions of Collette's dream, since this book is already a bit long. I could tell the major plot twists early on, but young readers won't necessarily grasp why Collette couldn't be out in the sun.
What I really think: Readers who liked Nielsen's Iceberg might find this lacking in details about the Titanic, although there are plenty. It's a book more like Haddix's Uprising or books about the Great Depression. It makes perfect sense to combine these two historical events, and I will definitely purchase this for my collection.
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