Reviewed by Louisa
TITLE: Titanic Summer 
AUTHOR: Russell J. Sanders
PUBLISHER: Harmony Ink Press
LENGTH: 262 pages
RELEASE DATE: March 6, 2018
BLURB:
It’s 2015, and teenage Jake Hardy is hiding something. During a summer trip to the Titanic Mecca of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Jake’s father makes a confession, and though Jake feels upset and confused, he also wants to be understanding. But he feels deceived—much like he’s deceiving those he cares about. Jake is gay, just not ready to tell the world.
Jake and his father are far from alone in their secrets, as Jake discovers back in Texas, where the fight for and against the Equal Rights Ordinance rages. He’s surprised to learn how much the outcome will affect his friends, and he’s torn between standing with them and the wishes of his religious fanatic mother. Being true to himself won’t be easy or painless, and it will come with sacrifices—and rewards.
REVIEW:
Teenagers are complicated people, I know that, I use to be one. Titanic Summer by Russell J. Sanders is all about Jake Hardy and his complicated family. And like most teenagers, Jake is all about Jake.
The things I liked about this book were varied between some characters and some themes. Jake’s dad was the highlight for me. I enjoyed that he didn’t find it easy to tell his son everything about him. Now his secrets are a bit predictable within the context of the book, but I didn’t mind that. I liked that the adults also struggled with being true to themselves.
The Titanic theme in the beginning irritated me. I agree with Jake that the movie was annoying and I found the way he expressed that funny. But it took a really long time for this theme to come into itself. The fact that at the end it was beautiful and brought the book together was wonderful. I hope even a little bit of the Titanic history in this book is real, because once Jake’s dad starts with the history, it is great.
Do not get me started on Jake’s mum, she was a very flat character for me. I just couldn’t get my head around the religious crazy. It seemed so out of place for me. And Jake’s friend Mal wasn’t my cup of tea either. She was the grown up in the story, but mostly she preached at Jake.
In reality because the story is told by Jake (not my favourite writing style), it is hard to avoid only seeing the characters as Jake does. Jake is rather self obsessed and he seems to have no life experience (even for a 16 year old), a very sheltered kid who can’t grasp that his parents are divorced or that his dad moved or that his mum has dived head first into the church. For a great deal of this book I wanted to shake him.
Overall, this was a good, if predictable story. It took a while to get into it, but I can see how teenagers could relate to what is happening.
RATING: 
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