I have been blown away by Lucy Strange. Our Castle by the Sea is her second novel and all I can think about after I've set this book down is that I hope she writes forever. I want to read everything she writes and I'm 26. How lucky the newer generations are to have an author like her!
Our Castle by the Sea, like Lucy Strange's first novel The Secret of Nightingale Wood, is again listed as juvenile fiction for 8-12 year-olds, but again like the first novel, I think any one older than that would find enjoyment in reading and learning what war is like from an 11 year-old girl's perspective.
Autumn 1939 -- "On the very first day of the war, Mags came home with a split lip."And after this, everything in Pet's life changes. WWII has barely started, but the people of Stonegate feel it. Anyone of German decent is arrested, including Pet's mom, and Pet can't imagine that anything could get worse, but it does. Growing up in a lighthouse, Pet's life has been full of storms and secret tunnels and stories about "the daughters of stone" and sea monsters. Now, with the Germans looming in the distance and planes flying over-head, Pet (who normally isn't brave) is going to have to stand up and be brave in order to save the people she loves most: her family.
What I found most interesting I think was seeing war in the eyes of a young girl, who is old enough to know what's going on (for the most part) but still not knowing just how much was happening. And that takes such a strong talent. And Lucy Strange definitely has it.
--Elise--
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