A girl from America, Daisy, visits her cousins in rural England. The countryside is bathed in sunshine. Daisy, keen to escape an unhappy home, adores her new family. They are free to roam the fields and free to sleep where they choose. Just as you begin to remember holidays from your own childhood when the sun never stopped shining and you spent the entire day picking blackberries, Rosoff introduces a war. There is plenty of blood, fear and desperation and it would seem too much to give to a child to read, except that Rosoff sees everything through Daisy’s eyes.
And through Daisy’s eyes the world is either bad or good, and people either interfere or understand. Most children have felt misunderstood at some point and Rosoff convincingly brings us the voice of a girl who hates her stepmother and is anorexic. But while many children’s books explore such problems, few have been able to do so with such a light touch. Daisy does not eat. No one in her new life admonishes her about it and so, gradually, she finds eating a less awful thing to do.
The comment that this book could teach us to treat children with such problems in a less intrusive manner will probably infuriate those who tried to be sympathetic initially when their own child was anorexic, but then found the illness became too debilitating to ignore. On the other hand, the simplicity of Rosoff’s description might strike a chord with sufferers.
This is a book you should discuss with a child after he or she has read it. Apart from the need to remind the child that unprotected sex is inadvisable, it would be fascinating to hear how teenagers interpret the story. It is, in many respects, a good, old-fashioned children’s book. Long journeys, such as Daisy’s to find her cousins during the war, are a staple of literature for the young. I used to make lists of all the things I would carry in a knapsack if I had to run away.
I am sure that parents or teachers will know the moment a particular child is ready for this. Perhaps the best thing about How I Live Now is that it is a book an adult will enjoy talking about with a nephew who has acne and attitude or with a daughter who says she hates you.
This book has a misty feel to it - it reminds me of "Le Grand Meaulnes" by Alain-Fournier - it has such a dreamlike quality. Despite dealing with war and death the dominant theme is the force of love. It is written with subtlety: the anorexia is not described directly but the reader sees attention hunger change to real hunger during Daisy's and Piper's journey. Daisy's teenage viewpoint is perfectly sustained: there is no unnecessary detail but an abundance of raw emotion. A truly outstanding and original novel. Maureen Wood, Bradford on Avon, Wiltshire
This novel touched me in many ways. I felt hurt and I did have tears because of Daisy's life. What she suffered was very unfair. What hurt me the most was that she was just a young girl. My daughter, aged 8, read this novel too. And also was sad for her. Raqeebah Sharif, Nottingham
Brilliant, an original voice, powerful and an up to the minute book. Terroism is with us, a problem which the younger generation will have to face. An evocative love story, one which young people will be able to identify with and older people remember. Audrey Tampkins, Billericay, Essex
I thought this was an exceptionally well written book combinig vivd and often humorous language (eg, Davinia the Diabolical, a La Lyle Hershberg and his pet Smurf) with powerful underlying themes - that war is futile (but nevertheless they keep on being waged), perceived problems with stepmothers but in particular that a deep love can survive terrible events and long separation. Whether this long lasting love is realistic in people aged fourteen and fifteen I am not sure but it certainly makes for a exceptional book. Tim Williams, Kettering, Northampton
This is a story of passion from the heart: the desire to be with someone until the end - even if you have to struggle through war, separation, suffering and isolation to cling on to the hope that you may see someone again. Daisy is an easily loveable character, who Rosoff allows to tell the story so simply that you have the desire to urge her to tell you more. It is the beautiful and innocent craving of the love so pure between Daisy and Edmond that keeps them both alive and starving for each other. Truly captivating. Alexandra Terry, Chester
I can't find the adjectives to describe this book. It totally amazed me. It is tempting to launch into a discussion of all the different levels it could be read on, how well the author draws her readers into all the complexities of a teenage girl's mind and how startlingly she swoops from moments of love and warmth to the horrific and gruesome realities of war. However, as a secondary English teacher and a 32-year-old woman, I am more tempted to encourage young and old alike to forget the analysis and just become absorbed in a remarkable book that will touch every awkward and insecure teenage nerve we still have inside us. I loved it. Gemma Stoyle, Teignmouth, Devon
This book was a present to my 12-year-old daughter, who read it before I did. I enjoyed reading the book for myself, particularly finding the teenage voice very convincing, but I was perturbed about what my daughter would have made of some of the themes. Should I have vetted the book before she read it? When I tentatively raised a question with her about the eating disorder suffered by the main character, she clearly had not perceived the problem at all. In this sense, the book is useful in raising issues that our children may not have been directly exposed to. Perhaps we can allay our fears about "unsuitable" reading material with the thought that the joy of a good novel is that it can be read at many different levels, and we each automatically find the level we can relate to. My daughter read a moving and exciting adventure story; I read a tale of adolescence and coping with change. Alison Eves, Burghfield Common,
