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Posted 20 hours ago

Cuckoo Summer

£3.995£7.99Clearance
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Tommy’s Dad is missing while on active service in the war and Tommy lives on the family farm with his Aunties.

I’m pretty sure that this is the only children’s novel that mentions the hidden treasure of betony, lady’s bedstraw and hare’s-foot clover. You guys were so fab and Dawn was such a lovely presence in the schools - I will absolutely be in touch next time I'm in your neck of the woods.It is Sally who decides they must keep the airman’s whereabouts a secret and protect him, but this won’t be easy. The quiet farming community may seem almost untouched by war compared to the cities, but that's clearly not the case, as Tommy awaits news of his missing father. The place is almost a character in its own right, with an immersive understanding of farming at that time. An originality comes from the tender friendship between the two, particularly in the form of the language they use - the runaway in her Geordie accent and words, and the farmer's son in terms of his affinity with the natural landscape surrounding him. What makes it stand out from other fiction of this genre is its incredible use of the setting of the Lake District.

Cuckoo Summer is one of those books that you know is going to find a natural place alongside books like Goodnight Mr Tom (Michelle Magorian) and The Valley Of Lost Secrets (Lesley Parr); there is so much to recommend about it. When the children discover a German airman has landed in the nearby woods, Sally is determined to save the young soldier from the threatening clutches of Starcross and Tommy is roped in to help. Yourself and Bob are much cherished in our booky world and I personally really appreciate everything that you do. When they discover a wounded German airman they decide to hide him to keep him safe from Mr Scarcross, the vengeful and embittered farmer with whom Sally lives. As the cuckoo sings out across the Lake District, life is about to change for ever for local boy Tommy and his friend Sally, the mysterious evacuee girl who lives on the neighbouring farm.Your words, like your reviews, bring books to life and give them a voice before the front cover is even turned. So when Sally tells Tommy about the wounded Nazi airman in the woods Tommy is persuaded not to report it but to help Sally keep him hidden. The cast of characters include Tom’s Auntie Annie whose stoical but caring attitude is in sharp contrast to the bitter, anger displayed by Mr Scarcross. This starts a chain of events that leads to the uncovering of secrets about Sally’s past and a summer of adventure that neither child will ever forget. The crux of the story turns on their discovery of a wounded German airman who has parachuted from his plane and landed in their fields.

Inspired by the stories the author heard about his mother’s childhood on a Lakeland farm and wartime events in the area Cuckoo Summer has an authenticity and a sense of time and place that ensures this historical fiction is credible.

The characterisation is strong: it's not just Tommy and Sally who have back stories that plausibly inform their actions. Some are lucky, others, like Sally, less so; she ends up with farmer Scarcross, an ill-tempered, abusive carer. I was at my last school for 4 years and we had ********* book fairs every term – and every term, I was disappointed by the narrow range of books. The descriptions of the setting, the tarns and the wildflowers all bring the world to life as the reader is drawn into the adventure.

There was just the right amount of choice to suit everyone without being overwhelming and I received comments from parents and staff about the quality of books offered compared to previous sales which have always been based around current crazes and well known celebrity authors.

Cuckoo Summer tells the story of local boy Tommy whose family have been farmers on the fells for generations. This experience has been fantastic primarily for the children, the school and also for me (professionally). The story starts in 1940, when Tommy and Sally have a life changing encounter with a wounded soldier - an airmen - hiding in the woods. His father is missing in action, and his best friend, Sally, is a mischievous and fearless evacuee from Tyneside. Wordsworth’s Daffodils is a fitting reference and motif, revealing Sally’s delight in the rural landscape around her.

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