Book Review: Listen to the Moon

Listen to the Moon

written by Michael Morpurgo

352 pages // published Oct. 2015 // middle grade fiction // World War I



My Review...

"It is hard to explain how it is not to have memories. But I shall try. You are lost in a world you do not understand, a world in which everything and everyone is bewildering, a world with which you have little connection, to which you do not belong.... You know you must be someone, come from somewhere, but that you will only remember when the doors open, when the light floods on." (Listen to the Moon)

Michael Morpurgo, accomplished author of children's fiction (such as War Horse), has now written a story like none of his previous works.

Listen to the Moon is, in fact, the impossible story of his grandmother as a young girl during World War I. While reading it, one can hardly believe that the stack of events truly took place. (What luck to have a family story seeped into such rich history!)

It's 1915. Nations are rallying together and pitting against the brutal forces of opposing nations and their leaders. One of the most gruesome wars the earth has witnessed is in full effect. Submarines are just making their debut, altering the course of warfare and humankind forever.

And in the midst of it, a girl, almost dead, is found alone on St. Helen's in the Britain's Scilly Isles. Seemingly dropped from the sky, her appearance rumbles through the local villages with suspicion. She won't -- or can't -- speak. Except for one word: "Lucy".

After finding this traumatized lost girl, the Wheatcroft family takes her in. Tension from the neighbors runs high, for there is no way to know whether this girl is a German threat or not. The evidence surrounding Lucy doesn't help her. Nonetheless, Alfie Wheatcroft is determined to be her friend. He desperately wishes to unlock her tongue and provide her with the gift of talking. Who is Lucy, really? Where does she come from?

"To be different in this ignorant world is often mistaken for madness. And we all too often put away those we believe to be different. Difference frightens people, and Lucy Lost is most surely different, very different." (Listen to the Moon)

This is the kind of children's fiction I grew up reading and still enjoy to this day. It's an amazing story filled with historical impact, a quality plot, and the hidden secrets of the human mind. I love Michael Morpurgo's steady writing style -- his allows the story to unveil itself at just the right time.

Listen to the Moon illustrates the power of kindness and the need for healing in any situation. I feel that this novel has many layers. Although most of the book is told through the eyes of a narrator, some parts are told from character flashbacks, or scraps from Dr. Crow's journal or Mr. Beagley's school log. Overall, this gives you the full view of the story, from the various angles, so you can best see how the full story will come to completion.

It is a slow novel, and runs close to 400 pages. This didn't detract from the inclusive delight I held for Listen to the Moon. The elements of Lucy's story come together in an unforgettable way.

Fans of maritime history will enjoy this book due to the eye-opening time period of WWI and the leaps taken during that time (with the advancement of submarines and the tragic sinking of the Lusitania, an event causing opinions to change in the midst of war). My ocean-adoring heart also loved the idea that the children were collected in the mornings and taken to school via a little boat.

I would recommend for anyone 9 and up. Adults will love it too! This makes for a great family story to read together.

Thanks to the author and Netgalley for the free review copy & for the opportunity to express my honest opinions.

Listen to the Moon has just been released in October. Buy your copy from Amazon or Barnes & Noble in either paperback, hardcover, or e-book format.

P.S. Like and vote for this review on Goodreads and Amazon.

Book Review: Dead Wake

Dead Wake
The Last Crossing of the Lusitania

written by Erik Larson

430 pages // published in 2015 // non-fiction // maritime history



My Review...




I have waited a long time to get to read Dead Wake. (Well, a few months since it's publication anyways...)

And it is PERFECT.

Erik Larson has researched and collected together everything you need to know about the Lusitania in a single volume. It covers Captain Turner and his life, Kapitänleutnant Schwieger and how he destroyed the largest moving ship, and the government's angles on the whole affair as well. You can read about the passengers, the crew, the impact on Woodrow Wilson's presidency, and the big secrets the British Admiralty kept in Room 40.

"The ship seemed as indestructible as anything that could be imagined, even for an age that imagined well and placed so much trust in immensity and invention." (Erik Larson, Dead Wake)

"There were so many on the ship that it really was like living in a town, one saw fresh people every day & never knew who they were. (Gertrude Adams, Lusitania passenger)

The tragedy of the great sinking is striking, considering the amount of lives lost, and what it meant for World War I. It's a part of history we should read about it, contemplate, and share with others.

I was greatly impacted with Larson's writing about the Lusitania, and am now compelled to read more of his books.





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RMS Lusitania, 100 Years later

If you've followed my blog for very long, you might know that I do enjoy learning about historical and maritime events. Studying about the Titanic has been the biggest research project I've shared about on the blog. Several other historical events intrigue me, but the Titanic still fascinates me, perhaps because of all the mysteries that we'll never solve about the ocean liner's ill-fated maiden voyage.

There's another ship I've become quite interested in learning more about -- the RMS Lusitania. Many differences exist between it and the Titanic, but with several similarities at the same time. Both were huge ships in their day -- in fact, each briefly held the title as "world's largest passenger ship" at some point -- until they each sunk. The British ocean liner Lusitania wrecked not because of an iceberg, but because she was shot at by a German U-boat during World War I -- a true war crime. 1,198 passengers and crew went down with Lusitania (slightly less lives than the 1,500+ on Titanic).



The Lusitania was torpedoed and sunk 3 years after Titanic.

May 7, 1915.

100 years ago today.

In honor of this being the century anniversary, I'm sharing a poem I discovered a while back in a delightfully-old hardbound book entitled A Treasury of War Poetry. The following poem is called 'The Passengers of a Retarded Submersible'.

THE AMERICAN PEOPLE
What was it kept you so long, brave German submersible?
We have been very anxious lest matters had not gone well
With you and the precious cargo of your country's drugs and dyes.
But here you are at last, and the sight is good for our eyes,
Glad to welcome you up and out of the caves of the sea,
And ready for sale or barter, whatever your will may be.

THE CAPTAIN OF THE SUBMERSIBLE
Oh, do not be impatient, good friends of this neutral land,
That we have been so tardy in reaching your eager strand.
We were stopped by a curious chance just off the Irish coast,
Where the mightiest wreck ever was lay crowded with a host
Of the dead that went down with her; and some prayed us to bring them here
That they might be at home with their brothers and sisters dear.
We Germans have tender hearts, and it grieved us sore to say
We were not a passenger ship, and to most we must answer nay,
But if from among their hundreds they could somehow a half-score choose
We thought we could manage to bring them, and we would not refuse.
They chose, and the women and children that are greeting you here are those
Ghosts of the women and children that the rest of the hundred chose.

THE AMERICAN PEOPLE
What guff are you giving us, Captain? We are able to tell, we hope,
A dozen ghosts, when we see them, apart from a periscope.
Come, come, get down to business! For time is money, you know,
And you must make up in both to us for having been so slow.
Better tell this story of yours to the submarines, for we
Know there was no such wreck, and none of your spookery.

THE GHOSTS OF THE LUSITANIA WOMEN AND CHILDREN
Oh, kind kin of our murderers, take us back when you sail away;
Our own kin have forgotten us. O Captain, do not stay!
But hasten, Captain, hasten: The wreck that lies under the sea
Shall be ever the home for us this land can never be.

For another excellent poem on the sinking of the Lusitania, read The Lusitania by John Weber.

To read an interesting account of the shipwreck, read the newly-posted BBC News article Remembering the Lusitania: One passenger's remarkable story of survival.

Book Review: Promise Me This

Promise Me This

written by Cathy Gohlke

416 pages
published in 2012
adult fiction

This novel has such depth, that I was genuinely amazed at each new twist introduced throughout the chapters.

The plot begins in 1912, with two sides of the story. There is Michael, an Irish boy in England, having to deal with an uncle who mistreats him severely. Finding a need to escape from his gutter-rat life, he becomes a stowaway in hopes of finding a new life in America. On the other side of the story, there are the Hargraves, a well-to-do family consisting of a scheming, depraved aunt, and her niece and nephew. Her nephew Owen, now becoming a young man, feels the desire to leave and start a safe life for himself and his sister before it's too late to depart from his aunt's house.

Owen and Michael both find refuge and a place to stash their dreams... on the R.M.S. Titanic. With hopes of creating something better for themselves, each is sailing to America. After the unforeseen, historically epic shipwreck shatters everything they had planned, the hopeful dreams dissolve into the ocean. But a promise is made.

One thing I really enjoy about this book is that it spans across a series of years. The story doesn't end when Titanic does, but it goes on, stretching into World War I. Annie, Owen's sister, takes up an important role in the war effort, becoming a nurse. The vivid descriptions of nurses, and the scenes they had to face every single day throughout that entire war---just horrid. Yet they pushed forward and became stronger women for it. I also enjoyed learning about gardens, roses, and landscaping, as these subjects becoming a recurring theme in the novel. It provided life in the center of a war where no life remained.

In the midst of all the years, a new love blooms, reaching from one side of the ocean to the other. It happens so tenderly, in a way almost imperceptible, but without this romance, much would be lost from the overall story.

The Christian themes running throughout were also quite pleasurable. Just the simple act of hearing the characters pray to God or offer their thanks to Him added extra emotion that can really tug on your heartstrings. Sometimes it is only with God that a person's true feelings emerge.

I personally savored this book, and it was well worth the read! I'm looking forward to reading more by Cathy Gohlke.



~*~I'm linking up to Book Review Wednesdays on Cym Lowell's blog!