"Did I ever tell you that I once knew the bravest man in the world?" Jonathan's grandfather tells him one afternoon when Jonathan is looking for a reason not to practice his piano.

And so begins Jonathan's grandfather's story of his being orphaned as a boy in Ireland and becoming a stowaway on a ship called the Titanic. Aboard ship he makes a friend of Wallace Hartley, the head musician, who sees that Jonathan's grandfather has talent playing the violin and predicts his grand future. But on April 15, 1912, no one can imagine what is to come. Wallace Hartley knows that there is one thing he must do at the news that the ship has hit an iceberg: play to bring the passengers some comfort as the mighty Titanic goes down.

Inspired by true historic events and the bandmaster Wallace Hartley, grand storyteller Patricia Polacco tells an epic story of bravery and courage that will inspire.

From the dust jacket