I really liked this book because of the characters and how they changed over time. Joseph, a young dyslexic with anger issues, overcomes his difficulties with sharing emotions and letting people in whilst Mrs F opens up about her family. I think the novel would have benefitted from a few more external prompts and events occuring - a letter from Jospeh's father, a visit to Syd's house, that sort of thing. Moments that would help turn inert ideas into narrative, that would show us firsthand things we need to care about. First sentence: The platform was a battlefield: seventy yards of carnage transplated straight from the coasts of northern France. Smoke billowed; people clung to each other. The plot is certainly different. Whilst you have our two main characters, the zoo also felt like a main character as did the war which felt eerie and ever-present in your mind.

I read this book very slowly to savour every chapter and emotional scene. It will most certainly be one of my favourite all time reads. This story was beautifully told with rich language that would be a great resource for Y5/6 writing. It would also make a fantastic class read where pupils can share the emotion and thrill of this story together. This story completely consumed me. The author was brilliant as the narrator and he told the story so well on audio. However I am glad I went in quite blind to the book but because wow, I never saw that ending coming. I finished the story completely choked, nodding my head in disbelief with mixed emotions, still thinking through the subjects raised. So many twists it left me in awe and the authors explanation of it been a true story at the end astounded me further. The author of the Anastasia books as well as more serious fiction ( Rabble Starkey, 1987) offers her first historical fiction—a story about the escape of the Jews from Denmark in 1943. There are many many books about the war, specifically children's experiences but I think this one is truly unique in its own way, and provides an original story that is very engaging. Unlike other stories, Joseph moves into London instead of away from it which provides a tense atmosphere, action and a generally more exciting and original concept. This book is inspired by a true story, and I think Earle has perfected the vision and made it a truly gripping concept. Mrs F is also the keeper of the local zoo, which has been in her family for years. There she attends daily to care for the animals that are left behind, including Adonis the Gorilla who is as moody as Joseph is.I wish the zoo was maybe further explored in this book -although the description was great I felt more of an atmosphere could’ve been created - the past glories of the zoo further delved into. The ending was a little abrupt but I guess it was fitting as the bombs were abrupt and it shows how life can be taken in a matter of seconds.

A deftly told story that dramatizes how Danes appointed themselves bodyguards—not only for their king, who was in the habit of riding alone in Copenhagen, but for their Jews. Twelve-year-old Joseph has had it tough, not only is there a world war raging, his mum has died, his dad has been enlisted to fight, and now his Grandmother has sent him to London to stay with an old friend of hers after she struggled to cope with him, whilst other children were being evacuated out of the city. A heartwarming story about the value of friendship and trust. In which love plays an important role. Sandy Saito loves baseball, and the Vancouver Asahi ballplayers are his heroes. But when they lose in the 1941 semifinals, Sandy’s dad calls it a bad omen. Sure enough, in December 1941, Japan bombs Pearl Harbor in the U.S. The Canadian government begins to ban Japanese people from certain areas, moving them to “dormitories” and setting a curfew. Sandy wants to spend time with his father, but as a doctor, his dad is busy, often sneaking out past curfew to work. One night Papa is taken to “where he [is] needed most,” and the family is forced into an internment camp. Life at the camp isn’t easy, and even with some of the Asahi players playing ball there, it just isn’t the same. Trying to understand and find joy again, Sandy struggles with his new reality and relationship with his father. Based on the true experiences of Japanese Canadians and the Vancouver Asahi team, this graphic novel is a glimpse of how their lives were affected by WWII. The end is a bit abrupt, but it’s still an inspiring and sweet look at how baseball helped them through hardship. The illustrations are all in a sepia tone, giving it an antique look and conveying the emotions and struggles. None of the illustrations of their experiences are overly graphic, making it a good introduction to this upsetting topic for middle-grade readers.Five years younger than Lisa in Carol Matas' Lisa's War (1989), Annemarie Johansen has, at 10, known three years of Nazi occupation. Though ever cautious and fearful of the ubiquitous soldiers, she is largely unaware of the extent of the danger around her; the Resistance kept even its participants safer by telling them as little as possible, and Annemarie has never been told that her older sister Lise died in its service. When the Germans plan to round up the Jews, the Johansens take in Annemarie's friend, Ellen Rosen, and pretend she is their daughter; later, they travel to Uncle Hendrik's house on the coast, where the Rosens and other Jews are transported by fishing boat to Sweden. Apart from Lise's offstage death, there is little violence here; like Annemarie, the reader is protected from the full implications of events—but will be caught up in the suspense and menace of several encounters with soldiers and in Annemarie's courageous run as courier on the night of the escape. The book concludes with the Jews' return, after the war, to homes well kept for them by their neighbors. My favourite part of the book was Joseph’s relationship with Adonis because it was a demonstration of how he began to trust others and care for them. However, I also liked how he and Mrs F ‘finally found’ a bit of solace in each other. We know from the start that Joseph is a troubled boy, but his full story unweaves slowly over the course of the book, as do the stories of Mrs F, the owner of a zoo who takes charge of him and sets him to work trying to find food for its starving animals (including a majestic but sad gorilla), a girl called Syd who befriends him despite all his efforts to push her away, and Adonis, that sad gorilla who is at the heart of the unfolding narratives and heart-wrenching finale.

I think Joseph was relatable and that made him more likeable; the way he struggled with his dyslexia and no one believed him evoked sympathy from the reader. The way his family was split up was also sad as his mother had seemingly suffered depression and his father was shot in the war. Although situations like this would have been common at the time, it is interesting to see how it affects Joseph and leads to him closing himself off from all others apart from Adonis. I loved seeing Joseph realise that Adonis thinks, feels and acts in an almost-human way yet he does not reject Joseph like (in his opinion) real people in his life. An extraordinary story with historical and family truth at its heart, that tells us as much about the present as the past. Deeply felt, movingly written, a remarkable achievement’ Michael Morpurgo No wonder he is angry! Bombs are raining down on the city that Joseph is sent to as an evacuee. And anyway, who came up with the stupid idea that he should live with Mrs F. who doesn’t even like children! He knows he should just run away but where would he go? Mrs F (Farrelly) is the woman who is to look after Joseph. She is a stern woman who takes no nonsense from the young lad and makes him earn his keep, much to Joseph’s disappointment. He hasn’t even been there a day when he smashes his bedroom window. In this deeply moving story of Joseph’s journey of self-discovery Phil Earle not only tells a brilliant story of a child’s emotional development but also added an important and true dimension to World War 2 stories.

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A wonderful story of hurt, kindness, and what it means to be human in an inhumane world.” - The Times of London, Children's Book of the Year And for Earle that is a great part of this story, he wishes to tell us. He shows us that be it human or animal. we all have to deal with pain and sorrow. It is some of our most basic instincts and too often it course us to lash out at those around us. We think they cannot possibly understand this raw and unbridled pain we are going through. And to some extent, this took me by surprise in a book aimed at a younger audience. Earle doesn't try and sugarcoat what is happening here. But allows the reader to experience that journey Joseph goes through. And maybe that is part of what makes this book so well, there is no dumbing down. He treats us all equally and trusts readers of any age to something that feels very real. From acclaimed author Phil Earle comes a touching historical fiction story of how a boy and a gorilla find redemption in each other amid the toughest of circumstances.

He struggles to deal with the fact his Mum left when he was small and now feels even more alone as his Dad is sent to fight in WW2. He skips school frustrated with a learning difficulty he hides, has anger issues, fights and does mostly as he pleases until his Gran can take no more and he is sent to London, the result of a closely guarded kept promise. When The Sky Falls is a powerful take on relationships, friendships and finding yourself in a world gone mad. Expertly written by someone with a keen sense of history and a strong understanding of human vulnerabilities. When the Sky Falls is inspired by a true story. I would suggest that you prepare yourself for an emotional rollercoaster. I would also point out there are themes of a dark nature broached within the book that some might find a little unsettling.Brilliantly written and fast-paced, this is a superb book. Suitable for upper key stage two and key stage three. The end note shares the true story that inspired the book, which would make for a great classroom study or project. Highly recommended. My thoughts: I definitely enjoyed spending time with the characters in this one. The story itself, well, the plot was hard-to-take at times. I'll try to explain. Hard on the heart. There have been quite a few books dealing with children during the blitz. The horrors and hardships they faced are ones I find truly unimaginable. With such stories, we are stripped of these great heroes and villains we come to expect. What we are left with tends to be more about survival. That living through these events is enough for anyone to go through. In coming to Joseph we see a slightly different view on this. He is someone whose anger we can see boiling up inside him. He feels betrayed and abandoned by all those who are supposed to care for him. And being sent hundreds of miles away only adds to this feeling of isolation. In this case, Joseph never feels overplayed. His feelings and emotions come across as valid to the reader. I think too often writers try and simply their younger characters. They want to show them to be childish and invalidate the experiences they go through. But here I was not only allowed to experience them for what they were but given the reasons behind them.