Noelle at Sea: A Titanic Story

Thirteen-year-old Noelle feels like the luckiest girl in the world to be cruising the Atlantic aboard the famed Titanic. The trip is made even better by her new friend, Pauline, a girl who is traveling with her father to live in America. The girls spend the first days of the journey exploring, but on the fifth night, Noelle awakens to a sinking ship. Women and children will be rescued first, and Noelle realizes motherless Pauline will be left all alone. Despite her parents’ wishes, Noelle breaks away from her family to find and help her friend.  

Noelle, who is half Haitian and half French, has led a sheltered life and is unprepared for the discrimination she faces aboard the Titanic. One first-class passenger shows hostility toward Noelle because of her mixed heritage, even telling another passenger to let Noelle sink with the ship when disaster strikes. While most discrimination is implied, it becomes explicitly clear that Noelle’s Haitian father lacks the same opportunities as others. 

When boarding the ship, Noelle meets Pauline, a third-class passenger who also faces discrimination because of her lower social status. Through her friendship with Pauline, Noelle witnesses how people are often prejudged based on both class and race. While these scenes may upset some readers, Pauline’s relationship with her father proves to be even more disturbing. After Pauline’s mother died, her father lost all interest in life and refused to leave the sinking ship. Noelle wonders, “What type of father asked his daughter to leave him to die? What kind of father refused to save his child’s life?” 

From the beginning, Noelle and Pauline’s friendship is built on deception. Since Pauline is a third-class passenger, she should not be on the same deck as Noelle, but Noelle allows others, including her parents, to believe that Pauline is a second-class passenger. This seemingly harmless lie leads to other rule-breaking when Pauline and her friend Albert convince Noelle to sneak into the first-class section and disobey her father’s orders. As Albert says, “My dad thinks a man should challenge authority.” 

Noelle at Sea addresses several sensitive topics that may be disturbing to young readers. However, the story is told from Noelle’s perspective and avoids detailed descriptions of the Titanic’s sinking. The book’s structure makes it easy to follow, with each chapter beginning by noting Noelle’s location and the time. Black-and-white illustrations appear every 10 to 17 pages, including one that depicts the silhouette of a lifeboat against the backdrop of the Titanic. The back includes nonfiction material on the Titanic, a glossary, discussion questions, and writing prompts. 

Anyone interested in learning more about the Titanic will find Noelle at Sea an engaging book that offers a unique perspective through its half-Haitian, half-French protagonist. The fast-paced story also provides readers with insight into the prejudices of the era. Readers captivated by the tragedy of the Titanic should also read Disaster on the Titanic by Kate Messner or Survival Tails: The Titanic by Katrina Charman. 

Sexual Content  

• None 

Violence  

• When the ship begins to tip, Noelle is worried about her friend Pauline, who is in steerage. Noelle “pictured Pauline among hundreds of other passengers screaming for help down in third class. They would be running down the halls trying to find an unlocked gate.” 
• While on the lifeboat, Noelle watches the Titanic. “The people on board were more frantic than they had been earlier. Bodies began falling from the ship. Some of their silhouettes seemed to be diving gracefully. Others tumbled through the air.” 
• Some of the people on the lifeboats “froze to death.” 
• When the passengers on the lifeboats were rescued, they “looked like they’d been through a war. Several passengers had cuts and broken bones. Nearby, Noelle watched a doctor tend to a man whose feet were frostbitten.” The doctor hopes the man’s feet do not need to be removed. 

Drugs and Alcohol  

• None 

Language  

• None 

Supernatural 

• None 

Spiritual Content  

• A woman on a lifeboat “prayed through her sobs.” 
• As Noelle watches the Titanic sink, “she prayed that [her father] was swimming towards them at this very moment.” Later, she says a second prayer.