Sam Angus

After Tom and Stanley Ryder’s mother died, their father sank into a depression that left him withdrawn and mean. In the spring of 1917, Tom serves Britain on the front lines in France. Left at home, Stanley becomes the sole object of his father’s wrath. After Da drowns Stanley’s pup, Soldier, Stanley lies about his age and enlists in the army. His only goal is to find Tom. Stanley enters the training program for the British Army’s Messenger Dog Service and is paired with Bones, a Great Dane. On the front lines, Bones will be expected to carry messages across “no-man’s land” and return to Stanley. The training proves rigorous, but nothing can prepare Stanley and Bones for the reality of trench warfare- claustrophobic underground trenches, water, mud, artillery barrages, and mustard gas. When Bones dies, Stanley decides to tell his real age. He would rather go home than endure the pain and hardships of war. Instead, Stanley is given a new dog. So he stays, and in staying, finally learns about Soldier’s real fate and gains a deep understanding of his father’s grief.
©2024 Kathy Maxwell at https://bookskidslike.com… (plus d'informations)

School for skylarks was recommended to me by a very good friend as an excellent school and family story. Lyla is outraged at being "kidnapped from her bed" by her estranged father and left to live with his eccentric aunt in her sprawling home in the West Country. Despite the threat of WWII bombings in London she is desperate to return there to her mother, whom she adores. After failing to run away, she plots to get the house requisitioned by the army, meaning that she would have to leave. Her plan backfires, however, when her offer is accepted - but as temporary home to a girls' boarding school. Lyla's mother kept her at home and let the housekeeper teach her in the kitchen, but now she is told she must take classes with the other girls. This book is at once almost a fantasy about the chaotic and unlikely goings-on as the school takes over Aunt Ada's house, moving a horse into one of the bedrooms and having the most unusual lessons, but also a moving take on family relationships, love and loyalty, as Lyla painfully learns that everything she has believed about her mother and father is wrong. I guess this would be classed as a middle grade novel, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.… (plus d'informations)

It’s wartime and London is no longer safe so Dodo and Wolfie, along with many other children, are forced to go and live with a family in the country. Their mother is dead and their father is off fighting in the war. Wolfie, who has dreamed of owning a horse, finds an abandoned, orphaned silver foal who is near death, names him Hero, and nurses him back to health. Hero is stolen and heartbroken Wolfie is determined to find him. This is a wonderful, heartwarming story of friendship, love, and trust between a small boy and the horse he is willing to risk his own life for. Reminiscent of the book “War Horse” by Michael Morpurgo, tweens, teens and adults will enjoy this engaging story.

Sharyn H. / Marathon County Public Library
Find this book in our library catalog.

… (plus d'informations)