If you read and loved the Dear America books as a tween in the late 90s/early 2000s, then this episode is for you! Author Ella Dawson joins host Emily Hessney Lynch for a fun conversation about everyone's favorite Dear America book, Voyage on the Great Titanic: The Diary of Margaret Ann Brady, by Ellen Emerson White, which came out in 1998.

We discuss what held up well in our reread, whether or not the book is historically accurate, how little details bring a story to life, publishers' depressing cost-cutting measures, how Dear America compares to the I Survived series, how much a first-class Titanic ticket would cost in 2026, and what current events would make great Dear America books today. You'll even learn where the idea of a passenger surviving the Titanic on a floating door comes from (spoiler alert: it wasn't a white person floating on the door!).

Links:

• We discuss several book covers in the episode. Here are the images for each of the Dear America: Titanic versions: 1998 original cover; 2010 reissue cover; 2026 reissue cover. We also discuss the I Survived covers, including the novel version and the graphic novel adaptation.
• Titanic Sinks Tonight is the BBC mini series Ella recommended.
• Listen to Ella's previous appearance on It's a Lot, "Capitalism Ruins Everything"
• Check out Ella's debut novel, But How Are You, Really in hardcover or ebook
• For more of Ella and her work, find her on Instagram or Patreon, and listen to her podcast Rebel Ever After
• Follow Emily on Instagram and check out her business, Serve Me the Sky Digital, if you need a social media strategist, speaker, or writer!

Books mentioned in the episode:

• Voyage on the Great Titanic: The Diary of Margaret Ann Brady (Dear America) by Ellen Emerson White
• Marie Antoinette: Princess of Versailles, Austria-France, 1769 (The Royal Diaries) by Kathryn Lasky (please excuse the yaasified cover)
• I Survived the Sinking of the Titanic, 1912 by Lauren Tarshis
• I Survived the Sinking of the Titanic, 1912: A Graphic Novel by Lauren Tarshis, illustrated by Haus Haus Studio and adapted by Georgia Ball
• The Correspondent by Virginia Evans (recommended by Amanda, a children's librarian in Illinois, for those who enjoyed the epistolary format of Dear America). If what you loved is the immersive nature of Dear America, Amanda also recommends checking out more historical fiction as it can be richly detailed! And if you loved learning about different time periods, she recommends exploring more narrative nonfiction.
• The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion by Beth Brower (recommended by Lauren, a youth librarian in Upstate NY). If you loved Dear America and the Royal Diaries books, she also recommends historical romance as it's deeply researched and focused on women's interests. Some of her favorite historical romance authors are Alexandra Vasti, Sarah MacLean, and Evie Dunmore. Lauren also notes that historical fiction by Taylor Jenkins Reid and Kristin Hannah are worth checking out too!
• Across the Living Infinite: A Queer Romance Aboard the RMS Titanic by Logan Sage Adams is out on April 15, 2026 and Ella is very much looking forward to reading it!

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