That Burning Summer

November 1, 2016
It's July 1940 on the marshy Kentish coast of England, and the Battle of Britain is being fought overhead. Sixteen-year-old Peggy and her 11-year-old brother, Ernest, are helping out on their uncle's farm while their mother works in a nearby town. Their father's gone; it's not clear where, though Peggy is clearly ashamed by his absence. All of England expects a German invasion. Ernest sees a plane get swallowed by the marsh; Peggy, awake that night, discovers its pilot, who bailed out: not a German but a Polish refugee named Henryk flying for the RAF. Henryk can't bring himself to rejoin the fight, so Peggy hides him in an abandoned church nearby. Told in chapters that alternate perspectives among Peggy, Ernest, and Henryk, Syson does a beautiful job capturing the essence of the war in rural England. All three people are well-rounded, and descriptions and dialogue propel readers forward--unfortunately, to a somewhat unsatisfying conclusion that feels added on, a sudden spurt of adventure in what had been a novel of character. The mystery of Peggy and Ernest's dad is very nearly an afterthought. Rewarding on many levels, but it doesn't deliver all that it seems to promise. (Historical fiction. 12-16)

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November 1, 2016

Gr 7 Up-In a novel set during World War II, a Polish (Allied) pilot crash-lands in the marshlands of England. Henryk does not want to return to the fight and is contemplating suicide when he is discovered by Peggy, a young woman whose family has been displaced by the war and is currently living with relatives on a nearby farm. When Peggy finds Henryk, he is cold, wet, and hungry, and after helping him to an abandoned church, she provides him with her father's old clothes and food pinched from the farm's harvest. Then Peggy's younger brother, Ernest, learns what his sister is up to and wants to turn Henryk in, but Peggy convinces Ernest to help keep Henryk safe, at least for the time being. What Henryk and Ernest do not know is that Peggy is hiding an even bigger secret. In alternating viewpoints, the young people tell their stories as they wrestle with their consciences and decide what to do with themselves, and one another, as the war erupts around them. The author's afterword adds historical dimension and factual clarity to the events of the narrative. Teens who enjoyed Ruta Sepetys's Salt to the Sea or Monica Hesse's Girl in the Blue Coat will gravitate to this novel. VERDICT Recommended as an additional purchase for YA World War II collections.-Jillian Woychowski, West Haven High School, CT

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 1, 2016
Grades 7-10 Peggy is terrified when she discovers a stranger in the henhouse one night. A fallen Nazi airman? Turns out he speaks a little English and is a Polish pilot flying for the RAF. But might he be a spy or double agent? Just as frightened, Henryk is also shell-shocked and knows he is incapable of flying again. As the two begin to trust each other, Peggy enacts a risky plan to conceal Henryk, ever beset by fear of discovery. What follows is a nuanced portrait of the unpatriotic side of war, set in this coastal English farming village in 1940. Peggy's father is a conchie, or conscientious objector, and the family's reputation suffers as a result. Henryk cannot abide dropping bombs on civilian populations and feels traumatic guilt over leaving behind his family in Nazi-controlled Poland. The emerging romance between the two can feel a bit forced, but Syson's gorgeous writing evokes the wartime fear and uncertainty in small communities and delivers a satisfying blend of mystery and suspense.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)