Sports Calendar
Claim your free 2010 double sided wall chart
Navigation - link to other main sections from here
I am a selective reader of science fiction (Arthur C. Clark, Isaac Asimov, James P. Hogan, Ursula le Guin). This novel does not fall into the SF category, but it does describe the effect on teenage children of some future global cataclysm. As a 64-year-old I share Gladys Hand's view that children should not be encouraged to regard teenage sex as an acceptable part of everyday life. Since most teenagers today probably do look at it that way, us oldies probably shouldn't lose too much sleep over it. At least the depth of their commitment to one another is clear by the end of the story. I have to admit that I completely missed the fact that the heroine was anorexic. Here's another book I must re-read. I suppose the reason that many adults are going back to children's books is that we want to regain some of the lost innocence we had from books we read in our childhood. Pullman and Harry Potter are examples of the genre. Given that the sex is pretty understated, this falls into the same category in a way. I enjoyed it. Colin Parker, Saffron Walden, Suffolk
I hadn't realised it was a children's book, although it captured wonderfully the feelings I can remember from childhood of that other place, the adult world, from which flowed inexplicable events. It felt also like a different version of Paradise Lost in which Adam and Eve are expelled from the Garden and are later re-united in a degraded world that they must deal with as best they can. The redemptive power of love is the great lesson. Barry Reeves, Abingdon
Vivid, intoxicating and full of wonders. I loved the contrasts of light and dark. Ruth Thompson, Hawkwell, Essex
What a delightful book of two halves. The first half fits somewhere between the Famous Five and Adrian Mole and evokes a rural idyll of the post-WW2 years. While the second half changes completely into a savage battle for survival and describes the terrible transformation of people forced to cope with demons both within themselves and other people. 10/10 from me. Simon Handley, Kesgrave, Suffolk
Undoubtedly a very original and intriguing novel. It was apparently written for children, but is suitable reading for adults. However, as an 85-year-old (who is admittedly behind the times), I found it rather horrifying that four children should be left to their own devices, with no one to turn to. I also feel that a 14-year-old boy making passionate love every night to a visiting cousin was hardly suitable for children to read about. Nevertheless, a very remarkable novel, even though I personally didn't enjoy it much. Gladys Hand, Hounslow, Middlesex
This should be nominated for the Mind Book of the Year. The ordinariness of the beginning of anorexia is exquisitely described and it is the best portrayal of post-traumatic stress I have read. People's incompetence at reaching out to help despite their best intentions is so agonising but the wonder of just being there is equally illustrated. I am not sure I would want to give it to my child, though there are children all over the world faced with the same boredom and sudden intrusion of war. Alison Brice, Horley, Surrey
This has all the ingredients of a children's classic, but with contemporary themes all dealt with very sensitively and couched in language that comes alive and off the page. I don't usually jump on the children's book bandwagon, but this is a book that really does cross the genres (and with not a hint of fantasy or magic, thank goodness). I shall re-read it whenever I feel in danger of losing sight of what really matters, love and home, the two things we will always do anything to get back to, against all the odds. Rosie Irvine, Mirfield