Doesn't pull its punches. Stark and realistic Blitz portrayal.

Four young people avoid the evacuation train and all resolve to stay in London, for various reasons. What follows is their story, as each follows a path that graphically shows readers the reality of WWII for those living with the daily threat and consequences of the bombings.

It certainly shows the human impact of what many children will only know from newsreels and descriptions. Four stories, some based on the author's own father's experiences, show some quite upsetting scenes.

Pretending their school is still open, Olive stays behind in London to stay with her firefighter father as War looms. Laurence has projects he wants to stay and work on, he invents things. Franklin is desperate to find work as a firefighter. And Gemmy is a scavenger, searching bombed-out properties for things of value... some of which might surprise her.

The foursome tour the city as bombs fall and what starts as something quite fun becomes much more serious very quickly. Their friendship, though all are still so young, becomes very much a lifeline and we watch each of them grow up as they experience things no young people should ever have to live through.

It's upsetting at times, knowing this is surely not pure fiction. I wasn't convinced by the voices on the audio version, they seemed too young, but it did bring the story to life as I listened.

Harrowing yet hopeful, another fine bit of writing that brings home the lessons of the past.

For ages 11 and above.

With thanks to Netgalley for providing a sample reading/audio copy.

This is a very well written middle grade book about 4 kids living through the Blitz. The audiobook is narrated by Rosalind Steele and she reads it clearly, her voice suiting the characters.

The characters are all realistic and have their own story arcs. I think they all fit well within the story and their friendships are genuinely moving to follow.

The only downside for me is the pacing. While reading, I didn't feel the ups and downs of a plot, more a steady stream of points adding up to a book. This isn't necessarily bad, just not a writing style I'm fond of, but the ending does somewhat make up for it.

Overall, it's a very moving and true to life story about WW2. I would recommend it to all ages, but know that it doesn't hold back when it comes to the horrors of war.

Thank you to W.F. Howes and Netgalley for the audio review copy.

I wouldn’t usually download a children’s book to review in all honesty, so I’m definitely not the oracle, and I was a bit unsure how to rate it, but long story short, I was recently a bit aghast at some of the reading content for a school project and this title being set during the blitz made me keen to compare it to the syllabus, I generally believe that if kids are reading it’s great, I don’t set limits by age groups I think children should read based on ability (I do usually pre skim or make sure I am aware of content) and maybe I’m going a bit soft but all of the titles set during WWI and WWII seemed to be really upsetting. Eg The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas.

There are hundreds of children’s books set during WWII and I certainly can’t claim to have read even half of them, but this felt really quite grown up in its content, nothing scandalous or sexual, just kids taking on a lot more than they should during horrific times, I’m not sure how to put it, but it felt like a teen novel delivered in a manner for a younger child’s ability I was reminded of some of the novels I read as a child.

The further into the story I got, the more it dawned on me that actually the book wasn’t “too old” for any age group as such, it was just very factual, and actually that’s a good thing, there’s fun and good times too of course. A very English book!

The narration was nice.

My thanks to W F Howes LTD and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this ALC 🎧