Torn Apart The Partition of India by Swapna Haddow

2021  

This tells the story of Ibrahim and Amar at the time of the partition in India in 1947.  Ibrahim, Muslim, is separated from his family as they flee to Pakistan. Amar is Hindu and lives on the streets of Delhi. Despite the fact that Amar’s best friend was killed by Muslims he decides to help Ibrahim get to the border. We don’t get to find out whether Ibrahim survives or meets his family again.   Neither do we learn whether Amar eventually gets a better life for himself.

Unusually for this age group we have two first person narratives.    

This book almost become a hi-lo.  It is short at just 119 pages but the text is blocked and uses an adult font with difficult ‘a’s and ‘g’s.  It is quite a tricky subject.

There is a glossary of the most important words at the front of the book and a longer one at the back.

The author gives us a note about what happened in 1947 and there is also a useful time line.

This is a thought-provoking book for the young reader.   

 

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Friend or Foe by Brian Gallagher

2015 

This book really does straddle two reading groups. Because of the age of the protagonists it fits the fluent readers group.  However, complex issues, including politics, and sophisticated language make it also suitable for the older reader.    

Emer Davey and Jack Madigan are members of a close circle of friends. Emer saves Jack from drowning. Emer’s father is a member of the Irish Volunteers, who are fighting for a free Ireland and Jack’s is a member of the Dublin Metropolitan Police who has to keep law and order for the British.  During the uprising Emer’s father is shot and Jack’s is kidnapped.  Jack and Emer stage a daring rescue to get Sergeant Madigan out of the clutches of the Irish Volunteers. Friendship proves to be stronger than politics.

All of the characters are interesting.  The really poor Gerry lives with his uncle.  Joan ends up marrying an American naval officer. Gladys is a model student and goes on to be a teacher. Phelim and Brother McGill are ardent nationalists. Miss Clarke is a teacher who really gets her students to think. Sister Assupmta is a stickler for discipline and routine. All of these characters are fictitious but they are made to seem all the more real when Brian Gallagher gives us an epilogue at the end of the story that tells us what happens to the children when they grow up. Of course the Easter Rising is a real piece of history.

The story should provoke a few talking points.       

The novel is 235 pages long but has endpapers which contain the epilogue and an historical note from the writer. There is as short biography of him at the beginning.

The text is blocked with a serif font that has difficult ‘a’s and ‘g’s.  

Find your copy here  

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Ted Rules the World by Frank Cottrell Boyce

2015, first published 2008,  

This book is produced by Barrington Stoke. This publisher asks established writers to compose stories and then they adjust them to suit the reader. This is one of their Little Gems. These texts offer several aids to the struggling reader:  short chapters, double –spacing, text formatted ragged right, a plain font with simple ‘a’s and ‘g’s, and numerous full-colour pictures which illustrate and aid understanding.  The text can be defined as a high-low.  The content is for a mature primary school child but the text is for a less confident reader.  A notice at the end of the book reminds us that these texts are tested by young people.  

The story explores some quite complex issues in a fun way. A female, populist Prime Minister tries to please the average person.  They use Ted as a test case.  However, he is not quite as average as he at first appears.  He is a redhead. This is a virtue, not a problem. But whilst he is deemed to be average several changes happen in his favour.

Ted has to learn a few life lessons.  For example if life is made easy for him it will become harsher for others. If red-heads are favoured what happens to the blonds?