With only one week left until the winner of the 2016 Carnegie shortlist is announced, we will blogging our thoughts on some of the shortlisted titles during the course of the week. We are really looking forward to meeting up with other high schools at the Norfolk School Library Service shadowing event, which is being hosted by Wymondham High School.
The first of our blogs is on Five Children on the Western Front written by Amelia in Year 8.
Five Children on the Western Front proves that first impressions can be truly misleading. The cover, blurb and target audience all convinced me that this book would give a sugar coated tale of war and the tragedy it brings. As a lover of war stories, I doubted whether the story of Five Children and It could be used to convey important war messages successfully. How wrong was I! Five Children on the Western Front is an beautiful story that deals deeply with loss, love and the beauty of forgiveness. To me the book serves also as a homage to the fleeting beauty of childhood and the trials of entry in adulthood. It brings alive the magic of being children and leaves you, although deeply emotional, full of a sense of hope.
The author perfectly captures the magic, beauty and humor of E. Nesbit’s original story but gives in her book more depth. This is without a doubt one of the best war stories I have ever read, dealing with not only the tragedy of war but the art of moving on. Through children’s eyes we see how war tore apart lives but also broke boundaries in the form of love, rights and class. The target audience is 9 years upwards. The author has catered perfectly for this age group creating a magical, beautiful and gripping book with underlying messages of great importance. The book’s ending is indescribable. Let’s just say I felt a wide spectrum of emotion after finishing the book. I hope this book is recognised for it’s genius in addressing the difficult but well worn subject that is war. My wish is that in time this book becomes a timeless classic like that of E. Nesbit’s original book Five Children and It.