Being a resident of Cornwall, I was drawn to this book because it's partly set in this beautiful county, as well as Plymouth and France. I haven't read any of Hilary McKay's other books (I'm ashamed to say), not even 'Saffy's Angel', for which she won the 2002 Whitbread Children's Book of the Year. But I've heard wonderful things about her stories, so was itching to read this one.
The story follows brother and sister Clarry and Peter, growing up in Plymouth in the early 1900s with their father (their mother died after giving birth to Clarry), and holidaying in Cornwall during the summer holidays with their grandparents and their cousin Rupert. Their father doesn't have a good bond with them, always preferring to sit on his own in his study rather than talking to his children, so Clarry and Peter always desperately look forward to their summer jaunts by the sea. When not in Cornwall during the holidays, Rupert goes to boarding school, and Peter is told he must go too. He is adamantly against this, and takes drastic measures to make sure he doesn't have to go. However, in the long run his plan doesn't have much effect and off he goes. He does make a very close friend while there, Simon, who is also very much in awe of Rupert. While the boys are at boarding school, Clarry battles against the sexism of the time whereby young ladies weren't meant to have ambitions, or want to learn anything other than needlecraft and cookery. She's a strong-willed and independent girl, and stands up to her father to make sure she gets her way. However the First World War is soon upon them, and the rosy dreams of endless summer holidays and laughter is brought to an abrupt end. How will the war affect the children's friendship? And will they all survive it?
McKay is very clever at how she explains the horror and pain of the war in a realistic but not over-dramatic way. After all, her audience is young children aged 9-12, so they need to be told the facts, but not in a way to give them nightmares. It was educational concerning how females were treated at the time, and also about how people rallied around doing their bit for the war effort. I was slightly disappointed that there weren't more descriptive scenes about their surroundings in either Cornwall or Plymouth, the text was more conversational. However, saying that, I enjoyed the book, I loved all the characters (Simon's sister Vanessa was slightly over-enthusiastic for me!), and it was a moving and fast-paced story.
I absolutely loved Lauren's first book 'Wolf Hollow', and this second book is almost as good, but for me hasn't quite pipped the post, but is still a joy to read. Lauren is such a beautiful writer - she is an award-winning poet, and this definitely comes through in her writing. You just have to savour every single sentence, because each word is chosen so carefully and fits so perfectly. The writing is magical and the storyline and characters are magical too. Crow is a young girl living on a tiny island with her guardian, Osh. As a baby, she was wrapped up and put in a tiny boat and sent off from one island and landed on Osh's, where he found her and has brought her up as his own. Now Crow is older, she starts wondering about the island she was cast adrift from - an old leper colony - and of her real parents. Will her curiosity spoil the wonderfully simple life she leads with Osh? Is danger lurking close by, threatening her, Osh and their close friend Maggie?
Lauren Wolk is a true talent and I very much look forward to her next book.
I'd kept reading about this book, and what made me want to read it myself was that it was about a girl being trapped in a boy's body, but written for 10-11year olds. Usually, something with that subject matter would immediately be classed in the teen section as it would undoubtedly be about a teen with teen content. What a breath of fresh air then, to have a uniquely-themed issue book written for a younger audience.
Grayson's parents died in a car crash when he was very young, and so he now lives with his Aunt and Uncle. Grayson already knows that he wants to be a girl (in fact he has felt that he has always been a girl), he yearns to wear girls' clothes and do things that girls do. It is not something he has just decided, it is just who he is. However, of course what holds him back is fear - fear of the reaction of others. He takes his first step - he auditions for a female role in the school play. Unfortunately this has more repercussions than he could have imagined, and it is not just Grayson that ends up getting hurt.
This is a wonderful and moving book about gender, identity, acceptance, bullying, and understanding. I think it is a welcome move for an author to tackle such a subject and lay it open for a younger audience to read and understand; to accept that everyone has a right to be who they want to be, without any repercussions. The underlying message is that you have to be afraid in order to be brave, and once you are brave, you can do anything.
For older readers, check out The Art of Being Normal by Lisa Williamson.
