Lifeboat 5

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Author(s)

Susan Hood

Publisher

Simon and Schuster

Genre(s)

Age Range

Release Date

October 08, 2024

ISBN

978-1665943246

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“A captivating…thrilling adventure story that shows the power of friendship, hope, and forgiveness.” —Lauren Tarshis, author of the I Survived series

In the wake of Lifeboat 12 comes a World War II novel-in-verse by acclaimed author Susan Hood about two very real girls who clung together for dear life when their evacuee ship was torpedoed, their lifeboat capsized, and they spent nineteen hours in the Atlantic Ocean, waiting for rescue.

When Nazi bombs begin to destroy Bess Walder’s hometown of East London, Bess convinces her parents to evacuate her and her younger brother, Louis, to Canada aboard the SS City of Benares. On the journey, she meets another evacuee, Beth Cummings. Bess and Beth have a lot in common—both strong and athletic, both named for Queen Elizabeth, both among the older kids on the ship, and both excited about life in Canada.

On the fifth day at sea, everyone starts to relax, but trouble is right behind them. That night, a Nazi U-boat torpedoes the Benares. As their luxury liner starts to sink, Bess and Beth rush to abandon ship aboard their assigned lifeboat.

Based on true events and real people, Lifeboat 5 is about two young girls with the courage to persevere against the odds and the strength to forgive.

Editor review

1 review

Harrowing real life tale, in verse

January 01, 2025

Overall rating

4.0

Plot

4.0

Characters

4.0

Writing Style

4.0

Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)

N/A

Bess Walden, who is fifteen, and her brother Lewis, who is 10, are sent out of East London by their parents during the Blitz. After a brief stay in an orphanage, they are lucky enough to get passage on the SS City of Benares. Bess meet another girl, Beth, who is also a bit heavier and has had trouble making friends, as Bess has. They become close friends, and spend time together on the very fancy ship, although each girl has a couple of younger roommates to help take care of. Bess is concerned because her brother is with boys on the ship, and she can't watch him as closely as she would like, although he seems to be in good hands with Ken, an older boy (whose story is told in Lifeboat 12), and chaperone Michael Rennie. Aside from a bout of seasickness, Bess and Beth are generally doing well until the ship is torpedoed in the middle of the night. Trying to escape with their roommates, they find that the stairs have collapsed, and Bess is frantic to be separated from Louis. The girls manage to get into a lifeboat, but it capsizes. The water is freezing, and all around them people perish, including Michael Rennie, who had managed to save many of the boys in his care. The girls encourage each other to hold on, and are eventually rescued by a British ship. Bess is reunited with her brother after he sees her green bathrobe hanging up. There is some additional information about various aspects of the ship, including the lack of information that remains about the Indian Lascars who were working on the ship and perished.

Good Points

The characters in the book are based on real people who were involved in the historical event. Heiligman's 2019 Torpedoed: The True Story of the World War II Sinking of "The Children's Ship" is great nonfiction coverage of the SS City of Benares, and would make a great companion for both of Hood's books. The little boy in the red silk life jacket that his mother had custom made for him so that he would wear it all of the time appears in both the fiction and nonfiction accounts.

The verse format is what sets this book apart from other novels set during this time period, and Hood employs several different formats, which are described in the back of the book. The alphabet poem written from the sea's perspective is especially effective; there is something haunting about the list of all of the items that are consigned to the deep.

Readers who want the pairing of World War II and verse format will want to pick up Hood's Lifeboat 12 (which doesn't necessarily need to be read first) or her 2022 Alias Anna: A True Story of Outwitting the Nazis, and would be well advised to seek out Borden's His Name Was Raoul Wallenberg: Courage, Rescue and Mystery During World War II (2012) or LeZotte's T4: A Novel in Verse (2008).