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David escapes from the concentration camp where he has spent his entire life and flees across Europe. He is utterly alone – who can he trust? What will await him? And all the while, how can he be sure that they won’t catch up with him...David learns that his polite manner, his haunted eyes and his thin features are strange to other people. He must learn to fend for himself in this strange new world. This is The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas meets Jonathan Safran Foer for children.
‘The sky split open. A sky of brilliant yellow light; a world of noise that filled his ears like sand at the seaside, so that afterwards there was only total silence’. But silence brings terror and grief to Sonny’s family as they come to terms with the loss of his mother in a German bombing raid. In a fit of anguish and grief, his father joins the RAF to avenge her death, and Sonny is left alone. As he fights for survival, Sonny embarks on his own dramatic and intensely personal confrontation with the enemy….
6,000 years ago, the land is one dark forest. Its people are hunters and gatherers. They know every tree and herb and they know how to survive in a world steeped in enchantment, menace, and powerful magic.
Raphael is a dumpsite boy. He spends his days wading through mountains of steaming trash, sifting it, sorting it, breathing it, sleeping next to it. Then one unlucky-lucky day, Raphael’s world turns upside down. A small leather bag falls into his hands. It’s a bag of clues. It’s a bag of hope. It’s a bag that will change everything. Soon Raphael and his friends Gardo and Rat are running for their lives. Wanted by the police, it takes all their quick-thinking, fast-talking to stay ahead.
When a move to a new house coincides with his baby sister's illness, Michael's world seems suddenly lonely and uncertain. Then, one Sunday afternoon, he stumbles into the old, ramshackle garage of his new home and finds something magical. A strange creature - part owl, part angel, a being who needs Michael's help if he is to survive. With his new friend Mina, Michael nourishes Skellig back to health, while his baby sister languishes in the hospital. But Skellig is far more than he at first appears, and as he helps Michael breathe life into his tiny sister, Michael's world changes forever.…
Fin is devastated by guilt when his sister, Ella, is kidnapped. She is snatched away from the house in the middle of a storm. As the kidnappers make their demands, Fin's guilt is replaced by a fierce determination to find his sister by whatever means he can, and bring the criminals to justice. But as the drama unfolds, a complex web of family secrets is revealed.
David escapes from the concentration camp where he has spent his entire life and flees across Europe. He is utterly alone – who can he trust? What will await him? And all the while, how can he be sure that they won’t catch up with him...David learns that his polite manner, his haunted eyes and his thin features are strange to other people. He must learn to fend for himself in this strange new world. This is The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas meets Jonathan Safran Foer for children.
‘The sky split open. A sky of brilliant yellow light; a world of noise that filled his ears like sand at the seaside, so that afterwards there was only total silence’. But silence brings terror and grief to Sonny’s family as they come to terms with the loss of his mother in a German bombing raid. In a fit of anguish and grief, his father joins the RAF to avenge her death, and Sonny is left alone. As he fights for survival, Sonny embarks on his own dramatic and intensely personal confrontation with the enemy….
6,000 years ago, the land is one dark forest. Its people are hunters and gatherers. They know every tree and herb and they know how to survive in a world steeped in enchantment, menace, and powerful magic.
Raphael is a dumpsite boy. He spends his days wading through mountains of steaming trash, sifting it, sorting it, breathing it, sleeping next to it. Then one unlucky-lucky day, Raphael’s world turns upside down. A small leather bag falls into his hands. It’s a bag of clues. It’s a bag of hope. It’s a bag that will change everything. Soon Raphael and his friends Gardo and Rat are running for their lives. Wanted by the police, it takes all their quick-thinking, fast-talking to stay ahead.
When a move to a new house coincides with his baby sister's illness, Michael's world seems suddenly lonely and uncertain. Then, one Sunday afternoon, he stumbles into the old, ramshackle garage of his new home and finds something magical. A strange creature - part owl, part angel, a being who needs Michael's help if he is to survive. With his new friend Mina, Michael nourishes Skellig back to health, while his baby sister languishes in the hospital. But Skellig is far more than he at first appears, and as he helps Michael breathe life into his tiny sister, Michael's world changes forever.…
Fin is devastated by guilt when his sister, Ella, is kidnapped. She is snatched away from the house in the middle of a storm. As the kidnappers make their demands, Fin's guilt is replaced by a fierce determination to find his sister by whatever means he can, and bring the criminals to justice. But as the drama unfolds, a complex web of family secrets is revealed.
The air raid siren that pierces the English night sky comes as no surprise to young Harry Baguely. Ever since Hitler began sending his warplanes to raid London, Harry has become an old hand at running to his family’s bomb shelter and waiting for the attacks to end. This time, though, Harry’s family doesn’t make it to the shelter. A war orphan with nowhere to go and only a lonely dog for a friend, Harry decides to make a courageous journey up the English coast. He is looking for a place to call home, a safe place far away from the danger and confusion of the city. But when he finds it, will it be worth the struggle?
In Harry’s encounters with the frightened civilians and weary soldiers of war-torn England, Robert Westall draws a compelling portrait of the devastating effects of war on children. An ALA Best Book for Young Adults and an American Booksellers Pick of the Lists, The Kingdom by the Sea is both a powerful historical record and a moving tale of one boy’s adventure.
Would you consider the audio edition of The Kingdom by the Sea to be better than the print version?
It's impossible to compare, though the characters are brought to life by the narrator in the audio and the tale really trips along.
What did you like best about this story?
The strength of Westall's writings was that he was writing from his own experiences as a war child growing up in the North East of England. his narrative is rich, his characters are strong and believable.
What does Ron Keith bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?
Ron Keith's delivery is superb throughout, having an English Narrator is essential (something lacking in one or two other of Westall's audiobooks available here), more so a narrator that doesn't go overboard with regional accents but gets them spot on.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
Yes, and I did.
Any additional comments?
A truly magical story full of adventure and hope. Sadly a fairly weak ending lets the overall tale down, yet it is still a sadly overlooked work. Westall truly catches the wartime zeitgeist as a backdrop to his gentle piece of fiction.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
Would you consider the audio edition of The Kingdom by the Sea to be better than the print version?
Yes. Ron Keith's accent really brought the narration to life plus, he was easy to listen to. Keith's voice was cosy and familiar, like a friendly grandfather.
What did you like best about this story?
Experience changes us and can change our relationships and that you don't need to travel far from home to encounter new experiences.
What does Ron Keith bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?
Great accents.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
Yes, in fact I listened to a good 4 hours in one sitting.
Any additional comments?
Watch Westall's 'Joby' on Youtube.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful