When we were Warriors

When we were Warriors

By Author / Illustrator

Emma Carroll

Genre

Adventure

Age range(s)

9+

Publisher

Faber & Faber

ISBN

9780571350407

Format

Paperback / softback

Published

07-02-2019

Synopsis

A body washed up on the beach...Evacuation to an old house with forbidden rooms and dark secrets...An animal rescue service...Set in World War Two, Emma Carroll explores the resilience, resourcefulness and inventiveness of children when their lives fall to pieces. Introducing some compelling new characters, as well as revisiting some familiar settings, these adventures are sure to win over new readers, as well as fans of old favourites such as Letters from the Lighthouse and Frost Hollow Hall.

Reviews

Janet

When We Were Warriors, a collection of three interlinked stories set in World War Two, is Emma Carroll's ninth book. The first story tells of Stanley, evacuated to Frost Hollow Hall (the setting of Carroll's first book), together with his sisters, June and Maggie; the reader will need to know of Frost Hollow Hall to appreciate this story. Stanley becomes involved in a dare challenge which involves them going to the Lake where Kit Barrington drowned, despite being forbidden to do so. What the reader gets is a snapshot of life as an evacuee, although there is not a huge amount of supervision, which allows June to try to undertake a dangerous mission.

In the second story Eddie, a black GI who makes a brief appearance in the first story, appears again when a lighthouse keeper is arrested after a body is washed up on the shore near Plymouth, and he reappears in a story of children wanting to find an air raid shelter for all the pets who are no longer going to be allowed into the main one.

Somehow there seems to be three full length novels trying to get out of these stories and this does not make for a wholly satisfying read. The best of the three is the last one, when Velvet finds a link to Eddie because of their shared race, and also because the characters seem to have found more time to grow within the confines of the story.

These stories would read aloud well, but the competition for stories of World War II has the bar set high, and it is a pity that Emma Carroll did not write three full length stories instead of restricting herself to this one book. Girls and boys of 9+ will enjoy them I am sure, but may find themselves wanting more.

256 pages / Reviewed by Janet Fisher, librarian.

Suggested Reading Age 9+

 

Other titles