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A review by hweezbooks
Alone on a Wide Wide Sea by Michael Morpurgo
5.0
"So I got an albatross and an astronaut all in one day. Not bad eh?" -- Allie Hobhouse in Alone on a Wide Wide Sea.
The albatross and the astronaut are just two of the eye-opening elements of this book that will just blow you away.
As with the lines from The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, this book culminates in a long journey alone on the wide wide sea. It relates the fictitious journeys of a man who was sent to Australia as a 6 year-old orphan, and later on his daughter who makes the lone journey by boat, back to England. But they are parallel journeys because both go through extreme hardship yet uplifting moments, and they attest to the fact that humankind will always fight to survive, with people and animals lending that crucial support at a particularly down time.
I have always said this and I will say it again. That Morpurgo is a master story-teller and it is beyond my comprehension how such diverse and heartfelt stories can come out from just one person. This time, the story has its historical roots in the 1940s-60s when thousands of British children were sent alone to Australia (also New Zealand and Canada). It brings to life what the displacement causes to young Arthur Hobhouse, the abuse and pain he goes through, as well as the final resolution. This is when the reader goes on a journey with his daughter Allie, copy of Ancient Mariner in hand, with albatross and astronaut to finally find out where Arthur came from.
This is another "Modern Classic" and a must-read for anyone 10-12 years and above!
The albatross and the astronaut are just two of the eye-opening elements of this book that will just blow you away.
As with the lines from The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, this book culminates in a long journey alone on the wide wide sea. It relates the fictitious journeys of a man who was sent to Australia as a 6 year-old orphan, and later on his daughter who makes the lone journey by boat, back to England. But they are parallel journeys because both go through extreme hardship yet uplifting moments, and they attest to the fact that humankind will always fight to survive, with people and animals lending that crucial support at a particularly down time.
I have always said this and I will say it again. That Morpurgo is a master story-teller and it is beyond my comprehension how such diverse and heartfelt stories can come out from just one person. This time, the story has its historical roots in the 1940s-60s when thousands of British children were sent alone to Australia (also New Zealand and Canada). It brings to life what the displacement causes to young Arthur Hobhouse, the abuse and pain he goes through, as well as the final resolution. This is when the reader goes on a journey with his daughter Allie, copy of Ancient Mariner in hand, with albatross and astronaut to finally find out where Arthur came from.
This is another "Modern Classic" and a must-read for anyone 10-12 years and above!