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Searching... Monmouth Public Library | YA Fic Boyne, J. 2014 | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
The next work of historical fiction from the author of The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, John Boyne's Stay Where You Are and Then Leave is a touching look at the effects war has on a family.
The day the First World War broke out, Alfie Summerfield's father promised he wouldn't go away to fight--but he broke that promise the following day. Four years later, Alfie doesn't know where his father might be, other than that he's away on a special, secret mission.
Then, while shining shoes at King's Cross Station, Alfie unexpectedly sees his father's name on a sheaf of papers belonging to a military doctor. Bewildered and confused, Alfie realizes his father is in a hospital close by--a hospital treating soldiers with shell shock. Alfie isn't sure what shell shock is, but he is determined to rescue his father from this strange, unnerving place.
This title has Common Core connections.
Author Notes
Acclaimed Irish novelist John Boyne was born in Dublin, Ireland on April 30, 1971. He studied English Literature at Trinity College, Dublin and Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia. He has written dozens of short stories and many novels, including the New York Times bestseller The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. An award-winning film adaptation of this work was released in 2008. In 2015 his title, A History of Lonelines made The New Zealand Best Seller List.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (5)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 4-7-World War I breaks out on Alfie's fifth birthday, and everyone in his neighborhood feels its effects. Alfie's father joins up and his mother starts work as a nurse, takes in laundry, and sews to pay the rent. Alfie does his part and becomes a shoeshine boy. Despite some contrived events, the characters are so realistic and endearing that listeners' concern for their heartrending experiences will override any plot holes. Euan Morton's fully voiced narration is stunning, not only showing exasperation during the intense moments, but also the subtleties of the parents' love for each other and the weariness brought on by four years of war. This audiobook is an engaging way for students to understand historical events and terms like conscientious objector and shell shock, relevant today as PTSD.-C. A. Fehmel, St. Louis County Library, MO (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Boyne (The Terrible Thing That Happened to Barnaby Brocket) delivers an original look at what was known as "shell shock" during WWI through the eyes of Alfie Summerfield, a milkman's son in a working-class London neighborhood. Opening on Alfie's fifth birthday, July 28, 1914 (the day the "fighting had started") and closing on his 13th, the story focuses on the fall of 1918, when Alfie discovers that his father-who had enlisted, against his family's wishes, and who Alfie fears is dead-is in a nearby hospital. Readers who persist through the relatively slow first half will be rewarded with the excitement of Alfie's daring adventure of bringing his father home; the closing chapter reunites all the characters, movie-ending style, mending frayed or broken relationships and tying up the loose ends a little too neatly. The book's strength lies in Alfie's appeal as a perceptive, hardworking, loving, and brave boy; some of his neighbors are intelligently and engagingly fleshed out, as well. Boyne gracefully renders the opposing strong feelings the war inspired, but uneven pacing weakens the overall effect. Art not seen by PW. Ages 9-12. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Horn Book Review
Nine-year-old Alfie Summerfield's milkman dad, Georgie, went away four years ago, one of the first men on respectable Damley Road to sign up to fight in WWI. Since then, Alfie's life has changed drastically: his mum now works all hours as a nurse; his best friend Kalena Jancek and her sweet shop-owner father are gone, interned as spies; school is optional, and most days he skips it in favor of shining shoes at King's Cross Station. For a while, letters from Georgie had come regularly -- first cheery and upbeat and later filled with horror and misery. Then they stop altogether. Alfie doesn't believe his mother's explanation that Georgie is on a "secret mission for the government," but it's not until he accidentally glimpses some papers belonging to one of his customers that he learns Georgie is in a nearby hospital, suffering from shell-shock. As in previous Boyne work (The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, rev. 9/06), unlikely encounters and occurrences abound (Alfie not only meets the prime minister but manages to both locate and rescue his father). While the plot is a veritable alphabet soup of WWI British home-front tropes -- from the belief that it would "all be over by Christmas" to mob attacks on foreigners to the white feathers (for cowardice) handed out to unenlisted men -- it's made palatable by the third-person limited narration, which keeps readers experiencing events solely from Alfie's intelligent but childlike point of view. And the portraits drawn of the shell-shocked soldiers are heartbreaking. martha v. parravano (c) Copyright 2014. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Another child's-eye view of war from the author of The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (2006); here the child is working-class, the conflict, World War I. The fighting starts July 28, 1914, the day Alfie Summerfield turns 5. Eager to defend king and country, young menincluding Alfie's dad, Georgieenlist in droves, leaving wives to manage households and families. Everyone says it will be over by Christmas, but four years later, the war grinds on, having transformed Alfie's stable, working-class neighborhood beyond recognition. Czech-immigrant neighbors have been taken away, their candy shop boarded up. Released from jail, a conscientious objector and old family friend is reviled and beaten when he returns home. Georgie's letters stop coming. Alfie's mother, now a nurse, insists he's on a secret government mission, but Alfie fears he's dead. Hard times get harder. Skipping school to shine shoes at King's Cross railway station, Alfie learns Georgie's hospitalized with shell shock and vows to bring him home. Alfie's the novel's strong suit: self-centered, altruistic, schooled by years of war, yet clinging to the belief that he can control the uncontrollable. His authenticity lends credibility to the sometimesfar-fetched, coincidence-heavy plot. (Conversely, a didactic tone creeps in when the viewpoint shifts from Alfie.) A vivid, accessible tale of the staggering price war exacts from those who had no voice in waging it. (Historical fiction. 9-14)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Alfie was five years old in 1914, when his dad joined the British Army and left for France. In 1919, Alfie and his mother, who works in a London hospital, are barely making ends meet. Though she claims that his father is on a secret mission for the government, Alfie fears that he's dead. Discovering by chance that he's in a hospital, the boy secretly visits his father, who is shell-shocked and mentally unstable. Alfie carries out a plan to bring Dad home, whatever the consequences. Boyne has an eye for period details, an ear for dialogue, and a knack for creating individual, consistent characters. However, the fact that they're mainly adult characters may limit the book's appeal to children. A further barrier is that many of the British historical and cultural references will be unfamiliar to American kids. Still, this involving narrative will find readers, probably among those who enjoyed Boyne's The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (2006). Illustrations not seen.--Phelan, Carolyn Copyright 2014 Booklist