Cette auteure britannique est célébrée pour son exploration perspicace de la nature humaine et des complexités de la vie. Ses œuvres explorent des thèmes tels que le passage à l'âge adulte, la résilience et la recherche de sa place dans le monde. Avec un style distinctif qui allie profondeur émotionnelle et prose vivante, elle saisit l'essence des expériences enfantines et leur impact sur la formation du caractère. Les lecteurs sont souvent touchés par sa capacité à dépeindre à la fois la vulnérabilité et la force de l'esprit humain.
Willie Beech is evacuated to the countryside as the Second World War breaks out. A sad, deprived child, he slowly begins to flourish under the care of old Tom Oakley. But then his mother summons him back to war-torn London... Will he ever see Mister Tom again? One of the best stories about wartime ever written.
Henry misses his father who died a war hero. One day Mrs Beaumont lends Henry a camera for his school project. Henry is disgusted that he's been put in a group with Jeffries, the son of a man who went AWOL, and Pip, who was born illegitimate; but he's about to learn that tolerance and friendship are more important than social stigmas.
The war is over but Elsie is still fighting her own battles. She's bullied because she's the only scholarship pupil at the grammar school, and she has an awkward relationship with her father as he struggles to assume a normal life after fighting in the war. But when she begins working at the local theatre, Elsie discovers she can escape.
As an evacuee, Ralph received a good education, but after the war Ralph's working-class father resents his education and his ambition to be an actor, and is furious when Ralph is sacked from the paper mill. The story traces Ralph's struggle to reconcile the disparate strands of his life.
Super sporty tale with a strong message of self-belief and a lovely inter- generational friendship at its heart, from the award-winning author of Goodnight Mister Tom. Particularly suitable for struggling, reluctant and dyslexic readers aged 7+