Goodnight Mister Tom Book

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 At the beginning of WW2, young Willie Beech is evacuated from London to a small rural village to stay with the withdrawn, grumpy loner that is Tom Oakley.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.

This classic emotionally touching story of war, resilience of the human spirit, hope, family, friendship, love, anti-semitism, death and child abuse is beautifully written and atmospheric, dealing with the most difficult of issues. I loved re-reading this, and would recommend this to all readers. Many thanks to Penguin Random House who are publishing a special anniversary addition this year.