Stay Where You Are & Then Leave by John Boyne - OPTIONAL

Boyne, John Stay Where You Are & Then Leave, 245 p. Henry Holt, 2014.  $17.  Content: G.  

Alfie Summerfield used to live a nice life on a friendly row of houses near King’s Cross station in London.  Then World War I started and her lost his best friend, he lost his neighborly coziness, and he lost his father.  His mother works long hours as a nurse in order to make ends meet, but even then, they have barely enough food to eat.  Alfie decides to help by shining shoes at the King’s Cross train station. One day, however, everything changes when he accidentally sees a piece of paper that gives him hope that his father may still be alive!  But Alfie is only 9, can he really find his father and bring him home?

Boyne attacks the human cost of war – not just lost limbs and death, but the living death caused by “shellshock” or “post-traumatic stress disorder”, as it is now known.  He offers glimpses at the lives of conscientious objectors, a more encompassing look at the pain caused by the women who would distribute white feathers to men they thought were slackers, and other small dimensions of war.  While not as powerful as The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, and not really a book for children, it is still a solid offering for a more mature reader.  

MS, HS – OPTIONAL.  Cindy, Library Teacher.