Lifeboat 12, Susan Hood
Lifeboat 12, Susan Hood
List: $12.99 | Sale: $9.10
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Lifeboat 12

Author: Susan Hood

Narrator: Bruce Mann

Unabridged: 3 hr 24 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 06/25/2019

Synopsis

In the tradition of The War That Saved My Life and Stella by Starlight, this poignant novel in verse based on true events tells the story of a boy's harrowing experience on a lifeboat after surviving a torpedo attack during World War II.

With Nazis bombing London every night, it's time for thirteen-year-old Ken to escape. He suspects his stepmother is glad to see him go, but his dad says he's one of the lucky ones—one of ninety boys and girls to ship out aboard the SS City of Benares to safety in Canada.

Life aboard the luxury ship is grand—nine-course meals, new friends, and a life far from the bombs, rations, and his stepmum's glare. And after five days at sea, the ship's officers announce that they're out of danger.

They're wrong.

Late that night, an explosion hurls Ken from his bunk. They've been hit. Torpedoed! The Benares is sinking fast. Terrified, Ken scrambles aboard Lifeboat 12 with five other boys. Will they get away? Will they survive?

Award-winning author Susan Hood brings this little-known World War II story to life in a riveting novel of courage, hope, and compassion.

About Susan Hood

Susan Hood has written more than 200 picture books. She has received starred reviews in Publishers Weekly and Booklist, and her book Spike, the Mixed-Up Monster won the 2013 International Latino Award and was selected for the Charlotte Zolotow Highly Commended List. The Tooth Mouse was named a 2013 Best Book of the Year by Bank Street and the Cooperative Children's Book Center. Prior to becoming an author, Susan was a children's magazine editor at Scholastic and Instructor Magazine, a book editor at Sesame Workshop, and the Children's Content Director of Nick Jr. Magazine.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Claude's on December 31, 2021

Well this will be my last review of 2021 and unfortunately it's a tricky one. The real story of Lifeboat 12 is actually a gripping tale of survival against all odds. I am sorry to say it was not well captured in this middle-school verse novel. The story felt drawn out even though is was written in ve......more

Goodreads review by Gabi on September 13, 2018

Absolutely fantastic, gripping book - written in verse from the POV of a 13-year-old boy, Ken Sparks. I bought the book because I'd actually heard of this story, when the City of Benares, the ship full of evacuee British children was torpedoed in the North Atlantic on its way to Canada in 1940. Knowin......more

Goodreads review by Katy O. on August 12, 2018

Thanks to Laura Gardner & Simon Kids for sharing this free review copy with me! . LIFEBOAT 12 is a phenomenal and impeccably-researched historical fiction in verse that releases on 9.4.18. . Based on a true story, Hood shares a tale that is filled with danger and adventure, told by a boy who is on a shi......more

Goodreads review by Darla on January 15, 2020

This is historical fiction the way I like it -- heavy on facts and well-researched. The story is told in verse giving it a lighter tone yet not in an inappropriate way. The Appendix includes photos of the real Ken Sparks and other passengers who were rescued from Lifeboat 12. The book tells a story......more

Goodreads review by Jasontes5th on March 23, 2018

Susan’s debut middle-grade novel packs a punch! Ken was one of the lucky children chosen to escape war in the bombing of London in 1940. On his way to Canada aboard a luxury ship, the unthinkable happens...the ship is torpedoed! Will Ken and the others survive on the small lifeboat they manage to es......more

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