Westfallen

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Pub Date 27 Mar 2025 | Archive Date 26 Mar 2025
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc (UK & ANZ) | Bloomsbury Children's Books

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Description

We didn’t mean to change the past. Now we have to win the war.

A stunning 'what if?' story by a bestselling author about two groups of 12-year-olds – one in World War Two, one in the present day.

Henry, Frances and Lukas are neighbours, and they used to be best friends. But in middle school Frances got emo, Lukas went to private school and Henry just felt left behind. When they come together again for the funeral of a pet gerbil, the three ex-friends make a mind-blowing discovery: a radio, buried in Henry’s garden, that allows them to talk to another group of three kids in the same town in New Jersey, USA ... in the same backyard ... eighty years in the past.

The kids in 1944 want to know about the future: are there laser guns? Flying cars? Jetpacks, at least? Most of all, they want to know about the outcome of the world war that their dad and brothers are fighting in. Though Henry is cautious – he’s seen movies about what happens when you disrupt the fabric of time – soon the present-day kids are sending their new friends on a mission to rescue a doomed sweet shop. What harm could that do? But one change leads to another, and the six friends accidentally change the course of history in the worst way imaginable: the Nazis winning the war. Now it’s up to the friends to change it back.

Co-author Ann Brashares is a New York Times bestseller for The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants, here writing with her fellow children's author and brother Ben for the first time.

We didn’t mean to change the past. Now we have to win the war.

A stunning 'what if?' story by a bestselling author about two groups of 12-year-olds – one in World War Two, one in the present day.

...


Available Editions

EDITION Paperback
ISBN 9781526685490
PRICE £7.99 (GBP)
PAGES 416

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Average rating from 2 members


Featured Reviews

I was absolutely enthralled by this book and pretty much annihilated it in two days. Not only is the storytelling compelling but I was so invested into the shared lives of our six characters, 3 in the past (1944) and 3 in the future (2023), I couldn’t put the book down.

It was the easiest thing to pick up this book and fly through 100 pages in a blink of an eye. I blame it entirely for the fact I kept loosing track of time and may delayed a lunch time or two.

I immediately got into it and the split perspectives between Henry in our current time, and Alice back in the 40’s made for super interesting reading. When Henry discovers a buried radio in the garden (whilst burying his gerbil), it brings him together with his friends as they embark on mad conversations through time.

When they pick up the radio, neither of them expect an answer but when the answer is across the span of time, it gets even more surreal. But it couldn’t have any repercussions right? They both soon see that time is a fragile thing…

I mean, oooo, what a great premise for a book. I couldn’t have enjoyed it more! And the ending?!!! Gah. I really can’t wait for the follow up now.

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I absolutely loved this book and inhaled it all in a day.

The story covers two sets of children, three friends in 1944 and three in 2023. A mysterious radio and strange old shed in the garden of one of their homes somehow allows them to communicate over time. The excitement leads them to talk about their lives and they soon discover that this can be dangerous, as any actions they take differently in 1944 can affect the world in 2023. This is taken to extremes in a series of events which lead to German victory in World War II and a very different America in 2023. Can they somehow find a way to undo the damage they have done?

The children in the book are all around 12 years old and it’s perfect for any child around that age (for any age), full of excitement and tension but also very naturally written characters. The friendships all seem real and their lives very relatable so it’s a great way to get readers to really think about the past with a very believable counterfactual narrative. 2025 marks 80 years since the end of World War II and this novel is an excellent way to mark that, allowing today’s children to really think about how different life could have been and what was achieved in that victory. This would be an excellent resource for teachers, too, to discuss history and introduce some amazing creative writing opportunities.

This is one of the best new children’s books I’ve read in a long time and I very much hope it becomes a series.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy in return for an honest review.

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