Unsinkable

Unsinkable (2011) by Canadian author Gordan Korman is the first book in a children’s action/adventure trilogy about the sinking of the RMS Titanic in 1912. Unsinkable belongs to the subgenre of books and media related to the sinking of the Titanic—a defining moment of the early 20th century—and offers a way to understand this tragedy through a youthful lens while exploring class in society, the effects of change, and the bonds formed by circumstance. Korman is a prolific writer of over 100 books for young readers, selling over 30 million copies worldwide. He published his first book, This Can’t Be Happening at Macdonald Hall, at age 14. Other titles of note include the best-selling Masterminds series and the 39 Clues series (the first book of which is Rick Riordan’s The Maze of Bones). Korman holds a degree from New York University’s film-writing program, and he lives on Long Island, where he writes full-time. 

This guide refers to the 2011 Scholastic e-book edition.

Content Warning: The source material and guide feature depictions of death and child abuse.

Plot Summary

Unsinkable opens with a Prologue that takes place after the Titanic sinks. The 706 unnamed survivors watch the dark ocean for signs of life, with none of them quite believing that the “unsinkable” ship sank. The main section of the book begins several weeks before the sinking, following four children—Paddy Burns, Sophie Bronson, Alfie Huggins, and Juliana Glamm—before each boards the Titanic.

Paddy lives on the streets of Belfast, Ireland (where the Titanic is being built). He and his best friend pick pockets to survive. When they accidentally rob a local gangster, they are forced to run for their lives. Paddy is accidentally loaded onto the Titanic along with cargo and believes that his friend was killed by the gangsters. Uncertain, Paddy stows away aboard the ship, planning to start anew when it docks in the US.

Sophie is in England with her mother, a prominent member of the women’s suffrage movement. After the two are arrested for assaulting police officers, they are deported by way of the first-class passage they booked on the Titanic’s first voyage. Alfie’s father works shoveling coal on ships, and when he is transferred to the Titanic, Alfie lies about his age to apply for work aboard the ship, which allows him to reunite with his father after his mother left. Juliana is sailing with her father, an earl, on the Titanic’s first voyage so that her father can meet with business associates in New York.

Aboard the Titanic, Paddy overhears Alfie discussing how he’s too young to legally work on the ship with his father. Later, when Alfie discovers Paddy stowing away in the cargo hold, the boys form a tentative partnership, promising not to reveal one another’s secrets. Meanwhile, as a steward in first class, Alfie has also met Juliana and Sophie, finding both girls pleasant but puzzling. When Alfie discovers a journal in the cargo hold that he believes proves that Jack the Ripper is aboard the ship, he pulls Juliana and Sophie into his investigation. Juliana’s father is busy gambling, and Sophie’s mother is arguing with the first-class male passengers about women’s rights.

When the ship takes on additional passengers in Ireland, Paddy sees the gangsters he barely escaped. The gangsters discover that Paddy is also on board, and Paddy spends his time evading them. While Alfie, Juliana, and Sophie explore the cargo hold, they witness Paddy stealing the gangsters’ trunk and follow him as he tosses the trunk’s contents into the ocean. Paddy explains his situation to the girls. Sophie is empathetic to Paddy’s circumstances, but Juliana is convinced that Paddy is a criminal.

The next day, the gangsters find Paddy and chase him through the ship. When Alfie doesn’t find Paddy where he expected to meet him, he recruits Sophie to help him search. Juliana refuses to help her, and Sophie breaks off their friendship because Juliana is being cruel. Alfie finds Paddy just before the gangsters throw him overboard, and the Titanic’s crew locks the gangsters in the brig. Paddy runs before they lock him up too, hiding in a lifeboat just as he notices Juliana staring at him. When the crew asks Juliana where Paddy went, she lies to save him, making Paddy realize that she might be his friend after all.

The final chapters put events in motion for the rest of the series. It is revealed that Paddy’s friend Danny is not dead but captured by one of the gangsters’ brothers. In the Epilogue, the Titanic’s captain receives a warning about ice ahead. He accepts the news but does not act on it, setting up the series for the iceberg collision that will sink the ship.