Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.91 AVERAGE
3.91 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
After his grandfather dies, 12 year old Michael, nicknamed Boowie, receives what appears to be a very long letter from his grandmother. She tells him to read all the way through it and no peeking at the end or he will ruin the surprise.
Most of the pages are diary entries by his grandma, Lily Tregenza, when she was a young girl of 11, beginning on September 10, 1943. Lily lives on a farm in Slapton, South Devon with her mother and grandfather. Her dad is fighting in Africa. Lily also has a cat named Tips that she loves very much.
School has just begun, and life is about to change. There are lot more evacuees in Slapton, including Barry Turner, whose dad was killed in the war and who keeps smiling at Lily. The new teacher is a Dutch Jew who escaped Holland with her husband just before the Nazis arrived. Lily doesn’t like her until she hears that Mrs. Blumfeld’s husband has been killed in action. To top it all off, her village is full of American soldiers or gum chewing “ruddy Yanks” as her grandfather refers to them. But at least she still has beloved Tips.
On November 13, 1943, everyone in Slapton is summoned to a meeting at the church. There, they are told that they must all leave the area for a while because the beach and village are needed for the soldiers to practice landings at sea for the coming invasion of France. Everything of value must be removed, including livestock, because the area, which will be surrounded by barbed wire, will be very dangerous.
Lily’s grandfather flatly refuses to go. He hates the war, having served in the trenches of World War I and never got over what he had witnessed then. Even after most of the people are gone, he refuses to go. When Barry learns he can’t move with the family he is living with and ends up moving in with Lily’s family. Then Barry falls in love with the farm and his presence and enthusiasm seem to rejuvenate Lily’s grandfather.
But it is Lily’s teacher, Mrs. Blumfeld, who finally convinces him to make the move, explaining to him how this move will help end the war. Lily, meantime, has made friends with two American soldiers, Adolphus T. Madison, called Adie, and his best friend Harry. They are both young black men from Atlanta, Georgia, the first blacks that Lily has ever seen and she is enchanted by their open friendliness.
Moving day finally comes and trouble starts when Lily can’t find Tips. She searches everywhere, but no Tips. The next day, she goes back and searches again. Adie and Harry also lend a hand by bringing in reinforcements to help look to no avail. Finally, the area is closed off with Tips is still missing. Lily then starts sneaking through the barbed wire to return to the farm to find her beloved cat. On one of her searches, Lily is caught and taken to the officer in charge. He has Adie and Harry take her back home and Adie makes her promise not to return to the farm, that they will continue looking for Tips, but that she will probably find her way to Lily herself. Despite her promise, Lily tries to find Tips one more time. This time, Barry follows her and after they get caught in some very scary, explosive maneuvers, Lily decides to give up her search for Tips.
Finally, in March 1944, Adie and Harry show up and, sure enough, they have found Tips. But she only stays put a few days and she is gone again. Tips had been found in the hotel, and shortly after her second disappearance, the hotel is destroyed in an explosion. Lily loses all hope that she will ever see Tips again.
On April 7, 1944 Adie and Harry bring over hot dogs, ketchup and soda pop. They all have a wonderful time at what becomes known as the Great Hot Dog Feast. But on May 1st Lily is told that Harry has been killed. During some maneuvers, they were in ships waiting to do practice landings. The ships were torpedoed by German E-boats and hundreds of soldiers were killed. This is also the day that Lily realizes that she loves Adie more than anyone or anything and would forever.
Eventually Tips does find her way home again and Lily changes her name to Adolphus Tips, in honor of Adie. Tips lives for three years after that. Lily’s dad comes home after the war, Barry returns to his mother in London and things pretty much go back to normal.
But this isn’t the end of the story, far from it. At this point, I can only tell you what Boowie’s grandma told him:
The surprise comes right at the very end. So don’t cheat, Boowie. Don’t look at the end. Let it be a surprise for you - as it still is for me.
And, boy, was it a surprise!
Michael Morpurgo is a master storyteller. This was such a simple story, and yet so compelling. I couldn’t recommend it more highly. It is a story is about love, friendship, helping each other and keeping promises. Lily is a typical kid, complaining to her diary about giving up her favorite candy for the war, sometimes forgetting to worry about her dad, giving her teacher a hard time ‘just because.’ But she is also kind, courageous and an adventurer, as her grandson already knows from experience. The diary dates were selected for a reason, beginning with the arrival of American soldiers and, with the exception of two later October entries, ending on June 6, 1944, D-day, the day Adie left Slapton with the US Army for the invasion of France.
The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips was awarded the Sheffield Children’s Book Award in 2006.
This book is recommended for readers age 9-12.
This book was borrowed from the Webster Branch of the NYPL.
The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips offers a wonderful window into the lives of what it may have been like for the people who were asked to give up everything and disrupt their lives for the war. The evacuation of Slapton was a real event, as was the torpedoing of the ships waiting to being the practice landings.
Most of the pages are diary entries by his grandma, Lily Tregenza, when she was a young girl of 11, beginning on September 10, 1943. Lily lives on a farm in Slapton, South Devon with her mother and grandfather. Her dad is fighting in Africa. Lily also has a cat named Tips that she loves very much.
School has just begun, and life is about to change. There are lot more evacuees in Slapton, including Barry Turner, whose dad was killed in the war and who keeps smiling at Lily. The new teacher is a Dutch Jew who escaped Holland with her husband just before the Nazis arrived. Lily doesn’t like her until she hears that Mrs. Blumfeld’s husband has been killed in action. To top it all off, her village is full of American soldiers or gum chewing “ruddy Yanks” as her grandfather refers to them. But at least she still has beloved Tips.
On November 13, 1943, everyone in Slapton is summoned to a meeting at the church. There, they are told that they must all leave the area for a while because the beach and village are needed for the soldiers to practice landings at sea for the coming invasion of France. Everything of value must be removed, including livestock, because the area, which will be surrounded by barbed wire, will be very dangerous.
Lily’s grandfather flatly refuses to go. He hates the war, having served in the trenches of World War I and never got over what he had witnessed then. Even after most of the people are gone, he refuses to go. When Barry learns he can’t move with the family he is living with and ends up moving in with Lily’s family. Then Barry falls in love with the farm and his presence and enthusiasm seem to rejuvenate Lily’s grandfather.
But it is Lily’s teacher, Mrs. Blumfeld, who finally convinces him to make the move, explaining to him how this move will help end the war. Lily, meantime, has made friends with two American soldiers, Adolphus T. Madison, called Adie, and his best friend Harry. They are both young black men from Atlanta, Georgia, the first blacks that Lily has ever seen and she is enchanted by their open friendliness.
Moving day finally comes and trouble starts when Lily can’t find Tips. She searches everywhere, but no Tips. The next day, she goes back and searches again. Adie and Harry also lend a hand by bringing in reinforcements to help look to no avail. Finally, the area is closed off with Tips is still missing. Lily then starts sneaking through the barbed wire to return to the farm to find her beloved cat. On one of her searches, Lily is caught and taken to the officer in charge. He has Adie and Harry take her back home and Adie makes her promise not to return to the farm, that they will continue looking for Tips, but that she will probably find her way to Lily herself. Despite her promise, Lily tries to find Tips one more time. This time, Barry follows her and after they get caught in some very scary, explosive maneuvers, Lily decides to give up her search for Tips.
Finally, in March 1944, Adie and Harry show up and, sure enough, they have found Tips. But she only stays put a few days and she is gone again. Tips had been found in the hotel, and shortly after her second disappearance, the hotel is destroyed in an explosion. Lily loses all hope that she will ever see Tips again.
On April 7, 1944 Adie and Harry bring over hot dogs, ketchup and soda pop. They all have a wonderful time at what becomes known as the Great Hot Dog Feast. But on May 1st Lily is told that Harry has been killed. During some maneuvers, they were in ships waiting to do practice landings. The ships were torpedoed by German E-boats and hundreds of soldiers were killed. This is also the day that Lily realizes that she loves Adie more than anyone or anything and would forever.
Eventually Tips does find her way home again and Lily changes her name to Adolphus Tips, in honor of Adie. Tips lives for three years after that. Lily’s dad comes home after the war, Barry returns to his mother in London and things pretty much go back to normal.
But this isn’t the end of the story, far from it. At this point, I can only tell you what Boowie’s grandma told him:
The surprise comes right at the very end. So don’t cheat, Boowie. Don’t look at the end. Let it be a surprise for you - as it still is for me.
And, boy, was it a surprise!
Michael Morpurgo is a master storyteller. This was such a simple story, and yet so compelling. I couldn’t recommend it more highly. It is a story is about love, friendship, helping each other and keeping promises. Lily is a typical kid, complaining to her diary about giving up her favorite candy for the war, sometimes forgetting to worry about her dad, giving her teacher a hard time ‘just because.’ But she is also kind, courageous and an adventurer, as her grandson already knows from experience. The diary dates were selected for a reason, beginning with the arrival of American soldiers and, with the exception of two later October entries, ending on June 6, 1944, D-day, the day Adie left Slapton with the US Army for the invasion of France.
The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips was awarded the Sheffield Children’s Book Award in 2006.
This book is recommended for readers age 9-12.
This book was borrowed from the Webster Branch of the NYPL.
The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips offers a wonderful window into the lives of what it may have been like for the people who were asked to give up everything and disrupt their lives for the war. The evacuation of Slapton was a real event, as was the torpedoing of the ships waiting to being the practice landings.
A lovely story of a girl in England during WWII,her beloved cat who goes missing when they are evacuated from their home, and the young American soldiers that help her out.
adventurous
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Liked the style of short diary enteries, question the morals of the age gap and not widowed etc. and the endings felt flat and unrealistic.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
I first want to comment on the audiobook specifically instead of the contents of the book. I thought that both of the voice actors did a good job in conveying their emotions without being over the top - although Jenny Agutter's Devonshire accent was sometimes kinda bad - and I enjoyed the jazzy music at the start and end of each disc. I did not like the echoey effects when present day Lily was speaking as they really took me out of the story.
In terms of the book itself, the writing was quite simple in style but given it was meant to be written by a twelve year old and it's for children I think it worked. Lily randomly appeared to have different levels of maturity in different parts of the book - compare using the word 'worser' and having deep introspective monologues - but given she's a tween in a very traumatic situation I'll let it slide. The inclusion of the modern grandson is obviously a Morpurgo-ism but I don't think it had as much impact as it does in his other books as the two stories aren't really linked thematically or anything. I did find Michael's (as in the small boy not the author) description of his grandfather's life and death to be incredibly moving and I wish we had more backstory - even a few sentences - on how the grandfather met Lily.
I thought all the characters were well rounded and interesting. Lily was quite a typical twelve year old but it was interesting to see her develop into more of the person we saw in present day. I wish she had interacted with more female characters other than her mother and teacher. Mrs Blumfeld was probably my favourite character as I enjoyed seeing how Lily was able to overcome her prejudices and learn to love Mrs Blumfeld. Adie was a very generous and kind character and I would have liked to learn more about him from his own point of view as I'd like to see what makes him tick beyond the fact that Lily looks like his sisters. Harry didn't get entirely fleshed out - he was more of a foil to Adie - but I cried when he died and I think that was the point . I also appreciate the effort to include POC in a setting other people (*cough, cough* Jaqueline Wilson *cough, cough*) would have made very white. And for not making that inclusion feel like tokenisation.
Plot-wise I was mainly happy: it all felt very realistic; the pacing was off in some places but that's just the pitfalls of a diary format; the stakes made me feel invested without being stupidly high. I had spent the entire book expecting Lily to Barry - being childhood friends, Lily learning to accept him, him enjoying farming like Michael's grandfather did - I'm not the biggest fan of sibling-figures-to-lovers or teenage-boyfriend-to-husband so I was pleasantly surprised (although still incredibly surprised) when it turned out they didn't end up together. With Adie I wish they had focused on the role of Adie as a paternal stand-in for Lily rather than a romantic figure. I feel that this would have made more sense within the story given the focus on Lily's strained relationship with her dad (which magically fixed itself as soon as he returned after the war). Their romance seemed quite forced and given that when they met she was eleven or twelve and he was eighteen it was kind of creepy. I think Morpurgo should have either aged up Lily or just not included a romance subplot at all. I also wish we had seen more of Tips. She felt like more of a plot device than a character - hence why I am discussing her in the plot paragraph - I wanted a cat book and there wasn't really enough cat.
Although I enjoyed this book if I take off the rose tinted glasses of nostalgia it's pretty mediocre and has more than a few problems. I did enjoy it much more when I originally read it aged eight or nine and my nine-year-old sister loved it when we listened to it yesterday so I would say that it's a good book for older children - although very sad in some places - but maybe not the best choice for anyone older than twelve or thirteen.
In terms of the book itself, the writing was quite simple in style but given it was meant to be written by a twelve year old and it's for children I think it worked. Lily randomly appeared to have different levels of maturity in different parts of the book - compare using the word 'worser' and having deep introspective monologues - but given she's a tween in a very traumatic situation I'll let it slide. The inclusion of the modern grandson is obviously a Morpurgo-ism but I don't think it had as much impact as it does in his other books as the two stories aren't really linked thematically or anything. I did find Michael's (as in the small boy not the author) description of his grandfather's life and death to be incredibly moving
I thought all the characters were well rounded and interesting. Lily was quite a typical twelve year old but it was interesting to see her develop into more of the person we saw in present day. I wish she had interacted with more female characters other than her mother and teacher. Mrs Blumfeld was probably my favourite character as I enjoyed seeing how Lily was able to overcome her prejudices and learn to love Mrs Blumfeld. Adie was a very generous and kind character and I would have liked to learn more about him from his own point of view as I'd like to see what makes him tick beyond the fact that Lily looks like his sisters. Harry didn't get entirely fleshed out - he was more of a foil to Adie -
Plot-wise I was mainly happy: it all felt very realistic; the pacing was off in some places but that's just the pitfalls of a diary format; the stakes made me feel invested without being stupidly high.
Although I enjoyed this book if I take off the rose tinted glasses of nostalgia it's pretty mediocre and has more than a few problems. I did enjoy it much more when I originally read it aged eight or nine and my nine-year-old sister loved it when we listened to it yesterday so I would say that it's a good book for older children - although very sad in some places - but maybe not the best choice for anyone older than twelve or thirteen.
So, I'm working my way through a box-set of Mihael Morpurgo and I'm starting to get slightly bored of his 'child is friends with an animal' theme so I wasn't much looking forward to this. However, I really enjoyed this book. Whether that's because I identified with the main character who was a girl who loves her cat I can't say for sure, but it was an enjoyable read in the context of the preparations for the D-Day landings.
Like many of his best selling books of this genre, Michael Morpurgo gives you a front seat to a theatre that's history. Historical fiction based on very real events. In this case, in Slapton in the south of England, where 3000 residents were asked to move everything out at short notice so that Allied forces could practise an attack on German-occupied France. An event now known as D-day on 6 June 1944. If you have a child 9-12, you need look no further for a must-read. Morpurgo is a brilliant spinner of stories based on fact and the best part is, you are pulled in as a first-hand witness as you feel just about the same tragedy, fear and exhilaration.