I asked the library for this because I like the audiobook narrator (Victoria Fox) and because the story, set during WWII, sounded much more like my sort of thing.

After thirteen year old Olive is injured during an air raid and her older sister goes missing, Olive and her younger brother are evacuated to the Devon coast, where their sister’s penpal lives.

This is poignant and eventful, about life during wartime and attempts to help refugees. It twists and ties everything together very neatly -- admittedly more neatly than I was expecting from a story about WWII, but that isn’t too surprising given that this is a children’s novel (and not Code Name Verity). I would have thought it perfect when I was Olive’s age.

Reading it now, I was struck by how relevant this sort of story is today… I also really liked Olive’s observations, and the vividness of the coastal community.

We were halfway through the news when the air raid started. It was a Friday in January: we were at the Picture Palace for the 6pm showing of The Mask of Zorro. All month the Luftwaffe had been attacking us, their bombs falling on London like pennies from a jar, so the fact they couldn’t hold off for just a few measly hours made me hate the Germans that little bit more. ( )