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While the adults talk endlessly about the war overseas, Mason fights his own battles at home with a mean bully named Aden. But then Aden surprises Mason with an unexpected act of kindness. Finally, on the night the bells ring-and World War I ends-Mason lays an old enemy to rest. Readers will identify with this timeless story about a boy's coming-of-age.
"This quiet, affecting coming-of-age story... realistically evoke[s] life in another time and place." -The Horn Book
Awards for The Night the Bells Rang:
( An American Bookseller "Pick of the Lists"
( A Child Study Children's Book Committee Children's Book of the Year
Gr 3-6-- It is 1918, and Mason finds that the new year isn't much different than the old in his rural Vermont community. The adults are still talking about the war overseas, but Mason's biggest problem is closer to home: the bully Aden Cutler. Frustrated and helpless to fight back against the older, larger boy, Mason wishes that Aden were dead. Then Aden joins the army, and he never comes back from the war. In its examination of a young boy's feelings of guilt over another's death, the book has echoes of On My Honor (Clarion, 1986) by Marion Dane Bauer, but without that novel's power. Mason's guilt is not so much because he believes that wishing for Aden's death made it happen, but because he never thanked Aden for one small, unexpected act of kindness. In a subplot that runs counterpoint to Mason's relationship with Aden, he also has to deal with a little brother whom he views as a pest. Even when railing against the injustices of the bully's actions, Mason seems oblivious to the fact that he treats his brother in the same manner. By the end of the year, and the book, Mason has matured, reevaluated his treatment of his brother, and repaid Aden's kindness with a simple gesture of his own. There are some qualities to recommend this book, but it tries to cover so much in so few pages that it lacks impact. Readable, but ultimately not very memorable. --Susan M. Harding, Mesquite Pub . Lib . , TX
| Price | Condition | Delivery | Seller | Action |
| $99.99 | Digital |
| WonderClub |
mike barbee
reviewed The Night the Bells Rang on July 13, 2011
The Night the Bells Rang
In this book Mason must face the troubles of youth while also facing the troubles of World War I. Mason is frequently bullied by an older child named Aden, and comes to hate the boy for all that he has done to him. Then on Father's Day, Mason drops a picture he made for his dad on a frozen river. Aden, while passing by, goes out on ice and fetches it for him. Mason begins to wonder why Aden acts the way he does. Mason's father tells him that Aden's dad was an alcoholic, abusive, and now dead. Mason feels bad for Aden and all that he has had to go through. One day Aden is gone from school, and Mason finds out that he has left to join the army. Mason later hears that Aden died in the war. Mason makes a point to talk to Aden's mother and tell her that he did at least one good deed in his life. While this book is mainly about Mason and his understanding of Aden's actions, it also addresses the difficulty some faced during World War I.
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