Heavy Medal Finalist #15: Torpedoed by Deborah Heiligman

Introduced by Heavy Medal Committee member Samuel Leopold 

This has been a great year for non-fiction! Books like FREE LUNCH and A THOUSAND SISTERS are phenomenal contributions to children’s literature this year. But the one title that, in my opinion,  stands head and shoulders above all non-fiction stories is TORPEDOED by Deborah Heiligman.

The year was 1940. Hitler was invading Europe and bombing England without mercy. Parents wanted to send their children to a safe place away from the bombs. The CORB program {Children’s Overseas Reception Board} helped poorer families have a way to send their children to countries like Canada so they could be safe from the bombs of Hitler. This meant having them sail on ships to those places of safety. Little did some parents realize how that would be a decision they would regret for the rest of their lives.

When I first gave this book to a student to read, he said “Spoiler alert….I already know what is going to happen by looking at the cover.”

He did not think the book would be suspenseful enough for his particular taste. And I thought the same thing when I began my first reading journey through this book. But, Heiligman proved us both wrong. She is able to craft her wording so precisely that the suspense keeps building throughout the story. I could barely finish one chapter without wanting to know what would happen next. Here are just a few examples of some sentences used by the author to keep the reader engaged.

” Even if all did not go as expected, there was no way to undo the decision Hannah and Eddie had made.” p.13

“Their parents were confident  that their children would be safe {though neither would survive this journey}.” p.24

” But disaster was still a couple of days away. For now, there was fun.” p.55

” As she made her way upstairs, Mary Cornish kept repeating, as if in prayer, it’s only a torpedo.” p.93

Those are just a few examples of how the author creates such complex suspense with such simple sentences. 

And that suspense is what keeps the pacing of the plot perfect throughout the book. 

As far as delineation of characters, the first reaction is that “there are an awful lot of different characters the author introduces us to throughout the story.” Steven brings this up in an earlier post in December. And, my initial thought was this would be an issue.

 But, I was wrong. Heiligman takes what, for most authors could be a problem, and makes it a strength of the story. It was necessary for the author to spend the first part of the novel introducing us to many of the children who would become part of this tragic event. Getting to know just a little bit about them { and how the parents like the Grimmond parents were doing what they thought would save their five children } and how they ended up on this ship is what creates the empathy and sadness we feel as we read the details of that terrible night. The author does give us deeper character development with several main characters such as Colin, Bess and Mary Cornish. I felt like I knew them as well as a very close friend and found myself completely enveloped emotionally in their fight for survival. It takes a skilled wordsmith to weave this character development this way and pull it off successfully. Heiligman does just that. 

The criteria of setting is another that Heiligman shows distinguished work in TORPEDOED. She uses so many primary sources to paint a vivid picture of exactly what is happening leading up to the departure of The SS City Of Benares on Friday the 13th of September. Then, she uses precise wording  and subtle detailed moments of letting us into the character’s thoughts { see pages 108, 142, 182 and 185} to paint the shifting setting of the tragic details taking place in the waters where the ship sank as 77 of the 100 children sadly died. 

Some might say that this story is too much for some young adults to handle so maybe it is not distinguished in appropriateness of style for an audience of younger children. And I too thought this, until I finished the book and then re-read it again. What I saw as I read it both times was a story that, though it did not shy away from the horrible tragedy of the many deaths, in its essence it is a story focused on the survivors and how they somehow made it through. This is a story children can relate to. They understand the tragedies that happen around them each day. They also need examples in their lives like Colin and Mary Cornish and Bess to give them hope.

And the word HOPE brings us to what I feel is the strongest part of the writing in this story—development of THEME.

In no way can anyone undo the sadness of so many lives lost that night. But, in the midst of that tragedy, the reader finds hope. Hope as seen in the stories of the heroes of that night. People were willing to sacrifice their lives to help others even if they did not know them. Two girls kept each other alive by holding onto each other through the night as they clung to an overturned lifeboat. And then there is Mary Cornish, who was on a lifeboat that was not found for 8 days. The six boys on that boat with her would have given up if not for the continuous story she had told to them during those days to keep their minds off of their dire situation. 

Heiligman includes on pages 230-231 the poem by Emily Dickinson which begins with the beautiful lines 

” Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul- and sings the tune without the words- and never stops- at all- .”

After I read this book, I put it down and cried…thinking of the tragic losses of the children and their families. And then I felt a sigh of HOPE thinking of the heroes and the sacrifices they made to save others. 

This is the one book this year that has turned my heart inside-out. 

This book, more than any other, has found a permanent resting place within my thoughts and feelings. 

This book is by far the most distinguished book I have read this year.

Filed under: Book Discussion