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Mailbox Monday #160

Mailbox Mondays (click the icon to check out the new blog) has gone on tour since Marcia at A Girl and Her Books, formerly The Printed Page passed the torch. This month’s host is the At Home With Books.

Kristi of The Story Siren continues to sponsor her In My Mailbox meme.

Both of these memes allow bloggers to share what books they receive in the mail or through other means over the past week.

Just be warned that these posts can increase your TBR piles and wish lists.

Here’s what I received this week:

1.  Private Peaceful by Michael Morpurgo, which I purchased after reading War Horse and already reviewed.

2.  Until the Next Time by Kevin Fox, which came unrequested from Algonquin and will be published in February.

3.  The Sleepy Hollow Family Almanac by Kris D’Agostino, which came unrequested from Algonquin and will be published in March.

4.  Pocket Kings by Ted Heller, which came unrequested from Algonquin and will be published in March.

5.  The Coldest Night by Robert Olmstead, which came unrequested from Algonquin and will be published in April.

What did you receive?

Private Peaceful by Michael Morpurgo

Private Peaceful by Michael Morpurgo is a coming-of-age novel (grades 7 and older) that sets readers up for the dreary and devastating life of a young boy, Tommy Peaceful, whose father dies unexpectedly at work as a forester.  Tommy and his brother Charlie are inseparable, and their other brother Big Joe has special needs and is often protected by the family whether it is in the school yard or at home from their Great Aunt.  Tommo tells the story in a series of flashbacks about his father’s death, his regret about how it happened, his friendship and kinship with his brother Charlie and their schoolmate Molly, and The Great War that invades their lives.  Readers will not immediately grow close to Tommo in the beginning, but as he opens up about his past and present situation overseas, it is revealed that things have changed far more and far too quickly for him.  He’s fallen in love, rushed to become an adult, and headed off on an adventure that was far less exciting and far more harrowing than he expected.  Each chapter begins with a little snippet of his present situation before Tommo relives his past happinesses, until the two moments meet in time.

“I want to try to remember everything, just as it was, just as it happened.  I’ve had nearly eighteen years of yesterdays and tomorrows, and tonight I must remember as many of them as I can.  I want tonight to be long, as long as my life, not filled with fleeting dreams that rush me on towards dawn.”  (page 1)

Morpurgo is at his best here with the subtle foreshadowing at the beginning with the crows caught in the fence, like the cavalry caught in the barbed wire of the battle fields and throughout in how Tommo relates his story.  He was 15 when he enlisted in the British military, but only after Charlie agreed to lie for him and say that they were twins of the same age.  These devoted brothers have shared everything — the sorrow of losing a father, the sorrow of losing a dog, the joy of finding Big Joe alive, and the love of Molly — but sharing everything also can breed secrets and resentment, which Tommo brings to the forefront when he speaks of Molly.  From the beginning, readers are given a clear picture of Tommo’s devotion and love for Molly, but it is clear that she treats him more as a sibling and he refuses to see it.

“Every uniform and every helmet was like our own.  Then, as we came down the gangplank into the fresh morning air, we saw them, the lines of walking wounded shuffling along the quay toward us, some with their eyes bandaged, holding on to the shoulder of the one in front.  Others lay on stretchers.  One of them, puffing on a cigarette between pale parched lips, looked up at me out of sunken yellow eyes.  ‘G’luck lads,’ he cried as we passed.  ‘Give ’em what for.’  The rest stayed silent and their staring silence spoke to each of us as we formed up and marched out of town.”  (page 115)

Morpurgo’s prose is clear and concise to ensure the mood is vivid and the experience of first person has the full impact, particularly during training and in the trenches.  A bit more for maturer audiences with its focus on the war and soldiering, but there are lighter moments of ribbing between the soldiers and talk of girls and even romance.  However, Private Peaceful by Michael Morpurgo is more about a young man coming into his own and dealing with the decisions he’s made and the events he’s witnessed.  Tommo has not only a colored past of poaching and death, but also a soldiering present that has tested his courage and devotion.  An excellent introduction to The Great War.

 

 

This is my 2nd book for the WWI Reading Challenge.

War Horse by Michael Morpurgo

War Horse by Michael Morpurgo is told from the point of view of the horse, who is sold at auction to a drunken farmer and is written for a younger audience, grades 5-8.  In this coming of age story, the young boy Albert Narracott and his Red Bay Joey grow up together and the bond they create lasts through a number of obstacles.  Joey is sold and is off to war — The Great War — to work as a cavalry horse.  Like soldiers in war, Joey must learn maneuvers and be conditioned to fight, which really translates into unlearning farm work and learning how to get his rider safely through the enemy lines.  Morpurgo takes Joey and his readers on a harrowing journey through France where much of the battles take place, and like soldiers, horses were captured as prisoners of war.

“All around me, men cried and fell to the ground, and horses reared and screamed in an agony of fear and pain.  The ground erupted on either side of me, throwing horses and riders clear into the air.  The shells whined and roared overhead, and every explosion soon seemed like an earthquake to us.  But the squadron galloped on inexorably through it all toward the wire at the top of the hill, and I went with them.”  (page 59)

The anthropomorphism of Joey is stunning in this novel.  Morpurgo really understands how to create an animal character who seems more like a human being.  Joey struggles with war fatigue, fear, loss, and a whole set of other emotions, but while away from Albert, he holds onto the love and comfort of his farm life.  Along the way he is treated well and mistreated.

“I found Topthorn was always by me and would breathe his courage into me to support me.  It was a slow baptism of fire for me, but without Topthorn I think I should never have become accustomed to the guns, for the fury and the violence of the thunder as we came ever nearer to the front line seemed to sap my strength as well as my spirits.” (page 44)

What more could readers ask for in a young readers novel about WWI?  A champion horse who earns an Iron Cross and saves his riders from certain death, but who fears and loves just as the young boy he knew did, just as everyone does.  Joey is a hero in more ways than one, and his courage is something that all young readers could learn from, especially how Joey overcomes his fear of strange lands and people.  Additionally, he strives to do his best even when he doesn’t want to do what the humans have him doing and even though it is painful to go on without food and shelter.  Survival is paramount, and Joey not only looks out for himself and his riders, but he befriends and cares for other horses in the regiments.

War Horse by Michael Morpurgo is stunning and engages readers early on in the struggles of a young horse who is taken from his home and thrust into WWI in 1914.  There are images of war, but there is nothing too gruesome that parents should worry about young readers.  On more than one occasion, readers will be moved, and chests will be full of emotion and tears will well in their eyes as Joey relates his story.  A great way to learn about the harrows of war without delving too deeply into the politics or military strategy, while at the same time demonstrating its far reaching impacts on non-military personnel, soldiers, and horses.

This is my 1st book for the 2012 New Authors Challenge.

 

 

 

This is my 1st book for the WWI Reading Challenge.

 

Mailbox Monday #158

Happy New Year!  Here’s to a happy, healthy, and fun 2012!

Mailbox Mondays (click the icon to check out the new blog) has gone on tour since Marcia at A Girl and Her Books, formerly The Printed Page passed the torch. This month’s host is the At Home With Books.

Kristi of The Story Siren continues to sponsor her In My Mailbox meme.

Both of these memes allow bloggers to share what books they receive in the mail or through other means over the past week.

Just be warned that these posts can increase your TBR piles and wish lists.

Here’s what I received this week:

1.  The Bungalow by Sarah Jio, which I received over the holidays.

2.  War Horse by Michael Morpurgo, which I bought with a gc to Barnes & Noble.

3. 11/22/1963 by Stephen King, which I bought with a gc to Barnes & Noble.

What did you receive?