Evie's War by Holly Webb

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 300

Publisher: Scholastic 

Released: 4th of October 2018 

In the seaside town of Whitby, when the United Kingdom is on the cusp of World War One, Evie and her family are touched by tragedy when Evie's younger brother Alexander dies unexpectedly.

As Evie's mother and father struggle in their own ways to come to terms with their loss, Evie's older brother David distracts himself with the ever-growing threat of war and Evie and her sister Kitty find ways to keep their spirits up.

But when the threat of war turns into reality and David enlists in the army, Evie's mother is truly heartbroken. And as the family does their best to contribute to the war effort, they also struggle with the sacrifices each of them are forced to make.

Based on the real-life bombing of Whitby in 1914, this beautiful, powerful and important read by Holly Webb is devastating but also wonderfully uplifting

What I Have to Say 

This was everything that I wanted from Skylark's War but didn't get. I loved setting, the relationship between the family members, the angle of loss that was clear from the very start of the book. I loved the way that Evie and her sister Kitty contributed to the war effort (especially the horse blanket) and I loved love loved the dogs. 

I've never thought about dogs during wartime, as so as not to spoil parts of the books, I won't say too much now, but the dogs were definitely my favourite part of the book. It can be hard to find decent representations of dogs in fiction sometimes, but Max and Brandy were perfect. Max was definitely my favourite, he was just written so perfectly. 

The backdrop of Whitby was a very interesting one. I've never read a book set in one of the seaside towns during wartime before. The way that the war touched them in such a massive way, with the bombing of Whitby and the ship really brought home the danger of the war in ways that home front war books often doesn't. 

This was such a sad, dramatic story and was written in an uplifting way. It's a hard balance to write about the subject matter in a way that treats it serious and puts across the horrors of war while also leaving the reader feeling uplifted.

If, like me, Skylark's War left you a little wanting or you just want to see more of the home-front during WW1, I would definitely recommend Evie's War. 

My thanks go to Scholastic for providing me with this copy for review. 

Skylark's War by Hilary McKay

Synopsis (from Goodreads)

Pages: 320

Publisher: Macmillan Children's Books
Released: 20th of September 2018 

Clarry and her older brother Peter live for their summers in Cornwall, staying with their grandparents and running free with their charismatic cousin, Rupert. But normal life resumes each September - boarding school for Peter and Rupert, and a boring life for Clarry at home with her absent father, as the shadow of a terrible war looms ever closer. When Rupert goes off to fight at the front, Clarry feels their skylark summers are finally slipping away from them.

Can their family survive this fearful war?The Skylarks' War is a beautiful story following the loves and losses of a family growing up against the harsh backdrop of World War One, from the award-winning Hilary McKay. 

What I Have to Say 

I wanted to like this a lot more than I did. It wasn't a bad at all. I think if I hadn't had high expectations of it, I probably would have liked it a lot more. But the fact that I was hoping to love it made it disappointing. 

I liked the characters a lot though. The way that Clarry and Peter were treated by their father was very sad, I was glad when they went to Cornwall and found Rupert and had a much nicer time. It was interesting to see how the relationships developed and grew before changing over the course of the war. 

I loved the letters between the characters and the way that they interacted, but I do feel like it would have been nice to see Clarry doing a bit more than just going to school during the war. I wanted her to achieve something, the same a those around her, but I couldn't help feeling disappointed that we saw the war more through the other character's lives while she was at school. 

I guess I just wanted more from the book. It was touching and gave a good look at the time period, but I wanted more. 

My thanks go to Netgalley and Macmillan for providing me with this copy for review. 

The Toymakers by Robert Dinsdale

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 320 

Publisher: Ebury Digital 

Released: 8th of February 2018 

Do you remember when you believed in magic?

The Emporium opens with the first frost of winter. It is the same every year. Across the city, when children wake to see ferns of white stretched across their windows, or walk to school to hear ice crackling underfoot, the whispers begin: the Emporium is open! 

It is 1917, and London has spent years in the shadow of the First World War. In the heart of Mayfair, though, there is a place of hope. A place where children’s dreams can come true, where the impossible becomes possible – that place is Papa Jack’s Toy Emporium.

For years Papa Jack has created and sold his famous magical toys: hobby horses, patchwork dogs and bears that seem alive, toy boxes bigger on the inside than out, ‘instant trees’ that sprout from boxes, tin soldiers that can fight battles on their own. Now his sons, Kaspar and Emil, are just old enough to join the family trade. Into this family comes a young Cathy Wray – homeless and vulnerable. The Emporium takes her in, makes her one of its own. But Cathy is about to discover that while all toy shops are places of wonder, only one is truly magical...

What I Have to Say 

I loved this book so much when I was reading it. But it's one of those that ends up leaving you a bit sad. It was a beautiful book though. Full of amazing things. I love books with this kind of magical surrealism. I love books that take an aspect of life and add something amazing to it. The emporium is a place that you will fall in love with. You'll want to visit and buy toys from it. Until it all goes wrong of course. 

The whole thing with the toy soldiers, for me, was the perfect metaphor for the conflict of the pre-WW1 mentality that war is glorious and the post- WW1 disillusionment that most of the soldiers suffered. It was really interesting to see these two mentalities go up against each other, as they must have done constantly with soldiers who had been to war and people who hadn't. To see this argument be played out over a bunch of toy soldiers was a really cool was to do it. 

I think this is a book that will stay with me for quite a while. I loved the characters so much and elements like the toy soldiers and the paper trees and Sirius the patchwork dog are all things that I'll remember fondly for some time. 

My thanks go to Netgalley and Penguin Random House for providing me with this copy for review. 

Things a Bright Girl Can Do by Sally Nicholls

Synopsis (from Goodreads)

Pages: 432

Publisher: Anderson

Released: 7th of September 2017 

Through rallies and marches, in polite drawing rooms and freezing prison cells and the poverty-stricken slums of the East End, three courageous young women join the fight for the vote.

Evelyn is seventeen, and though she is rich and clever, she may never be allowed to follow her older brother to university. Enraged that she is expected to marry her childhood sweetheart rather than be educated, she joins the Suffragettes, and vows to pay the ultimate price for women's freedom.

May is fifteen, and already sworn to the cause, though she and her fellow Suffragists refuse violence. When she meets Nell, a girl who's grown up in hardship, she sees a kindred spirit. Together and in love, the two girls start to dream of a world where all kinds of women have their place.

But the fight for freedom will challenge Evelyn, May and Nell more than they ever could believe. As war looms, just how much are they willing to sacrifice?

What I Have to Say 

This book was so amazing and great to read but I don't really know what to say about it. I liked the characters a lot and the plot. The history was awesome and I learned a lot of stuff that I didn't know. It's an era of history that I'm really interested in, both the stuff with the suffragettes and with the First World War, so it's great to read about it from different perspectives and find out stuff I didn't already know. 

The peace stuff from May was really interesting. I had no idea how many women were working so hard to try and end the war. The whole peace conference was something that I knew nothing about so it was great to read that. 

I enjoyed Nell as well. It was great to see the idea of gender and homosexuality being questioned in a historical fiction book, because so many people pretend that this stuff didn't exist back then even though it's well documented. 

I loved the cover with the black girl on it, so I was sad that there was no mention that any of the girls were black in the book. I would have been so interested to see the issue of race and how it was treated in England back then because I only know some stuff about race and suffragettes in America and even that I don't know much about. 

This is definitely a great feminist read for anyone interested in women and history. Read it and get ready to feel powerful. 

My thanks go to Netgalley and Anderson for providing me with this copy for review.