Shocked

STAY WHERE YOU ARE AND THEN LEAVE by John Boyne. Macmillan Audio, 2014.


Alfie is only 5 when WWI breaks out. His father heads off to enlist; his mother begins to work outside of the house to make ends meet. And Alfie becomes a shoe shine boy, trying his best to help out, too. When the letters from his father suddenly stop coming, Alfie is concerned about the fate of his father. Eventually, Alfie learns that his father is in a local veteran's hospital suffering from shell shock. The "ordinary" horrors of war from the perspective of a young boy bring to life what day to day like was like for those affected by the fighting.

Tie this to Boyne's THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PAJAMAS and to other stories of children during way such as Anita Lobe;s NO PRETTY PICTURES: A CHILD OF WAR by Anita Lobel. I read this one with my ears. he narrator struck a perfect "pitch" with his reading of the novel.