Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review* By November, most evacuees have returned to London, which poses a problem for the play director, Miss Thorne, as she has to keep re-casting roles for the Christmas show, " A Christmas Carol." Willie takes over as prompter after finishing the scenery and after a week he knows most of the play by heart. When he is asked to fill in for someone, he turns out to be an incredibly talented actor, even impressing Zach. Miss Thorne needs a new actor to take on the role of Scrooge and gives the part to Willie. Tom also steps up to fill in for Mr. Bush, who is called to war, to play the organ for the men's choir. He has not played in a very long time as it reminds him of his wife. Thus, both Willie and Tom are faced with a new opportunity to come more into the spotlight. I first read it when I was about ten and I was in Year 5, learning about WW2 and the Blitz and evacuees. Seeing as I had read all the books we had to read and I was allowed to go into the library and choose my own book. And this one was the first book I chose.

William remains bedridden and traumatised by his ordeal. He blames himself for the death of his sister, as he was not able to give her enough milk. Zach visits him daily. William grows stronger and visits his favourite teacher, Annie Hartridge. From Annie and Zach, William learns that he could not have fed a baby on his own and that a woman cannot conceive a child on her own. He realises his mother had sex with a man, though she told him that it was a sin for unmarried men and women to consort. He no longer blames himself for his sister's death. Goodnight Mister Tom is a deeply moving story that follows Willie Beech as he gets evacuated from London to the countryside during World War II. The novel is suitable for Year 5 and above. It explores topics and themes such as World War II evacuation, friendship, abuse and growth. Television & Radio Industries Club Award 1999: Best ITV/Channel 5 Programme of 1998 for Goodnight Mister Tom It’s the apparently ‘heartwarming’ story of Willie Beech, who is sent from London to the countryside during the second world war. He goes from living with an overly religious, abusive mother to the gruff but kind Tom, and develops, or something. It doesn’t really matter. When they return, Willie and Zach decide to explore Spooky Cott – an abandoned cottage that is rumoured to be haunted. To their surprise, they discover a young man who loves to paint. Geoffrey offers Willie art lessons and volunteers to teach in their school.

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Ms Magorian’s writing feels so comfortable to me; it’s simple and gentle but never ventures into twee-ness (twee-dom?)… fine, it never becomes twee. Magorian and Mister Tom won the annual once-or-lifetime Guardian Children's Fiction Prize, judged by a panel of British children's writers. [2] She was also a commended runner-up for the Carnegie Medal from the British librarians, recognising the year's best English-language children's book published in the UK. [3] [a] Slowly but surely, with Mister Tom’s kindness and wisdom, and the help of the good people in the nearby community, Willie begins to flourish. He makes friends, and discovers what it’s like to have a normal childhood.

When I read a book like this one, I try to imagine what my eight or ten year-old self would have thought of it. I’m pretty sure she would have loved this and read it more than once. It is beautifully written, very sweet and uplifting, and inspires kindness and a view of the world as a place that will rescue you. Willie Beech is an abused nine-year-old boy. "Mr. Tom" Oakley is a sixty-year-old man who was widowed 40 years ago and became the town recluse/curmudgeon. The two are thrown together when Willie arrives at Mr. Tom's cottage as one of the WWII evacuee children from London. They both blossom as they learn to love and encourage each other. Mr. Tom comes out of his self-imposed "hermithood" to participate in the community again, and Willie discovers his own talents while becoming healthy and robust. Now he’d be for it. Don’t ask help from anyone, his mum had said. He waited for the cuff around the ear.” Speaking of additional features in this 40th anniversary edition, the new introduction from the author was lovely. Not only did it explain the concept of sewing children into their clothes (something that confused me in the story) but it also explained the origin of the story which is something that’s always interesting to read about.The friends were pointless, apart from Carrie, who was just stupid. There was literally no reason for the friends to exist, other than filler. Carrie was a local girl who wanted an education. She, and the novel, were so ridiculous I found myself wishing they’d just ban women from school so she could shut up for a bit. I’m a feminist, and the book made me wish women couldn’t go to school. Yeah. She was literally that annoying.

As he observed it tumble and fall between the wood and hot coke, it occurred to him that strength was quite different from toughness and that being vulnerable wasn’t the same as being weak.” It must have been traumatic, leaving behind Mums and Dads, older siblings, their former schools, pets possibly, in fact, everything that was familiar and comforting, and finding themselves in a totally different environment with people who knew nothing of these children’s former lives. The last scene was so cheesy I wanted to vomit. Like Willie did at his birthday, but in a less annoying way. It also involves Willie stealing his dead friend’s bike, which just shows what sort of a person he is. Unfortunately, if like me, you were hoping for one final tragedy, in which the bike crashes into a grenade, blows up the whole town and kills everyone in the novel, you will be severely disappointed. It ends with Willie calling Tom ‘Dad’, and being happily adopted. Oh well. Normally I hate watching adaptations of my favourite books because they never ever EVER measure up. Michelle Magorian's award winning historical novel is a wonderful re-read for me, I read it so long ago and it was a joy to re-acquaint myself with it. Some of you may be familiar with the story through the fabulous movie starring John Thaw. At the beginning of WW2, young Willie Beech is evacuated from London to a small rural village to stay with the withdrawn, grumpy loner that is Tom Oakley. When Willie first arrives he is a frightened and traumatised child, and no wonder, he has been abused, neglected and bullied, but as he begins to settle into the community and eat proper meals, he starts to blossom, even overcoming his fear of Sammy, the dog. Tom and Willie are so good for each other, but Willie's happiness is endangered with his terrifying return to his nightmare of a cruel, 'religious' mother. When Tom doesn't hear from Willie, he decides to go to London.Willie becomes friends with some of the village children and evacuees – mostly notably Zach. Zach is extravagant, confident and has a love of life. Willie is surprised that Zach likes him as he’s never been liked by anyone before and was bullied in his previous school. Zach and Willie spend lots of time together and become best friends. Since her death he had never wanted to touch anything that might remind him of her. Trust a strange boy to soften him up. The odd thing was that, after he had entered the paint shop, he had felt as if a heavy wave of sadness had suddenly been lifted from out of him.” Mister Tom was also a great character. Although he was viewed by others as grumpy and secluded, from the outset I found that he was kind to Willie in an unconventional way. Even before he realised that Willie was sensitive and traumatised, Mister Tom was never mean, it was simply part of his nature to be blunt. In fact, he had quite a few hilariously blunt quips throughout the book and I loved his unexpected sassy remarks. It was amazing to see how much he grew throughout the book too. And the insight this 40th anniversary special gave us into his relationship with his wife through the inclusion of the short story was sweet and very tragic. Willie proceeds to have horrible nightmares and regularly wakes up screaming in the middle of the night. Tom’s there to comfort him and after a few weeks, Willie’s calmer and is able to see his friends. Tom, Willie and Zach go on holiday to a nearby seaside town and spend two weeks enjoying the sun and sea. In September 1939, the United Kingdom declares war on Nazi Germany, and children are evacuated from London to the countryside for their safety. Tom Oakley, a lonely and bitter old man living in the countryside village of Little Weirwold, is forced to look after one of the evacuees, William "Willie" Beech. Tom has become reclusive after losing his wife and child to scarlet fever many years before, while Willie is a quiet young boy who comes from an abusive home and is apprehensive of Tom.