When the Sky Falls

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Mrs F, Grans associate is the lady now in charge of him. She is short, strict and makes it clear his behaviour will not be tolerated and sets about making him conform by going to school, doing chores and working. And this is where the story takes a different direction. Mrs F runs the family Zoo at a time in the Blitz when food is rationed and people think animals should be put down. But Mrs F has Adonis the gorilla and as Joseph works at the Zoo with the help of his new friend Syd he begins to warm to her, him and vice versa. But Joseph is not the only one with difficulties and a past and will that be the end of the loss in his short life?. Can they help heal each other?. An emotional story about young Joseph, a child with dyslexia growing up whilst the war is raging who travels to London to stay with gruff and mysterious Mrs F. This story was beautifully written and There were many things I loved about it. Mrs F (Farrelly) is the woman who is to look after Joseph. She is a stern woman who takes no nonsense from the young lad and makes him earn his keep, much to Joseph’s disappointment. He hasn’t even been there a day when he smashes his bedroom window.

The history of the time the book is set in (World War II) is so interesting to me because most people, including me, only know the facts and statistics. Sometimes we forget that people have actually been through this and children have had to witness the world wars and see the destruction, and live in fear in case there is an air raid or something which could destroy their home that they have grown up in. This makes it so thought provoking because as a reader it makes us think and sympathize with Joseph because of what he is going through even if he is portrayed at the start as quite a naughty child, who even his own grandmother couldn’t take care of. History inspired activity researching and writing a leaflet (non-chronological report) about rationing in the war. The characters were also conveyed in a great way. Joseph was really hateable (if that's a word) at the start, but you gradually grow to like him, and begin to realise that he is a boy that is mentally troubled by his previous life. Syd is a wonderfully kind, yet talkative character who just wants to help. Mrs F, well, you just feel sorry for her at the beginning - she was just dumped with this boy, that, let's face it, she didn't really want.

Demolition Dad

His grandmother, who is his caretaker, reaches a point where she can no longer handle Joseph's behavior. His new caretaker then is Mrs F. The direct and grumpy character of Mrs F. causes Joseph to strongly resist against her. And for Earle that is a great part of this story, he wishes to tell us. He shows us that be it human or animal. we all have to deal with pain and sorrow. It is some of our most basic instincts and too often it course us to lash out at those around us. We think they cannot possibly understand this raw and unbridled pain we are going through. And to some extent, this took me by surprise in a book aimed at a younger audience. Earle doesn't try and sugarcoat what is happening here. But allows the reader to experience that journey Joseph goes through. And maybe that is part of what makes this book so well, there is no dumbing down. He treats us all equally and trusts readers of any age to something that feels very real. The plot is certainly different. Whilst you have our two main characters, the zoo also felt like a main character as did the war which felt eerie and ever-present in your mind.

My favourite part of the book was Joseph’s relationship with Adonis because it was a demonstration of how he began to trust others and care for them. However, I also liked how he and Mrs F ‘finally found’ a bit of solace in each other. Oh wow! When the Sky Falls is the most emotional and exciting middle grade book that I have read this year! Take a moment to look at the front cover more closely. A fabulous illustration that gives you a peek at what lies inside that cover When the Sky Falls took into a part of WW2 that I haven't previously read about. We have read stories about life on the home front but this is a new angle looking at the struggles of a city zoo. The Nottinghill Carnival takes central stage in this story about families, memories and the power of dance and festivals. Author Yaba Badoe tells... I do appreciate the instinct not to neatly resolve everything neatly, but these aspects just felt like they didn't get the attention they needed.Brilliantly written and fast-paced, this is a superb book. Suitable for upper key stage two and key stage three. The end note shares the true story that inspired the book, which would make for a great classroom study or project. Highly recommended. This masterful study in loss and redemption is a book strongly influenced by "Kes" and "The Machine Gunners" (I love the little knowing nod to the latter), but the style is all Earle's own, and it ends up sitting proudly by those two fore-runners, as an equal. It will make you weep more than once, and you're going to be biting your nails as it draws towards the climax, but ultimately it's a work that will make your heart sing.

There have been quite a few books dealing with children during the blitz. The horrors and hardships they faced are ones I find truly unimaginable. With such stories, we are stripped of these great heroes and villains we come to expect. What we are left with tends to be more about survival. That living through these events is enough for anyone to go through. In coming to Joseph we see a slightly different view on this. He is someone whose anger we can see boiling up inside him. He feels betrayed and abandoned by all those who are supposed to care for him. And being sent hundreds of miles away only adds to this feeling of isolation. In this case, Joseph never feels overplayed. His feelings and emotions come across as valid to the reader. I think too often writers try and simply their younger characters. They want to show them to be childish and invalidate the experiences they go through. But here I was not only allowed to experience them for what they were but given the reasons behind them.

I've been a fan of Phil Earle's work for a long while now, and ten years after "Being Billy" marked him out as a top author in the YA field, "When The Sky Falls" should catapult him into a whole new league. It's a book that's going to win awards and reach a huge audience, and the world at large is going to discover what those of us already in the know have been aware of for the past decade -- that Phil Earle is a must-read author. Extremely fun and engaging unit of work based on this fantastic new Carnegie award shortlisted book! The book made me research things I have never questioned before, and some of the answers were upsetting and gave way to a certain amount of anger, to say the least.