A review by literaturejuggle
Goodnight Mister Tom by Michelle Magorian

4.0

This may be unique in that I was made to read this at school but actually loved it. In fact, I was so into the story that I read it at home between lessons and then had to put up with several weeks/months of waiting for everyone else to catch up. That was back in Year 7, so a good twenty-seven years ago. I still think it's a good book. It is the story of an abused child who gets a new lease of life when he is evacuated to the countryside at the start of WWII. So as you can imagine, there are some heavy themes here. Sometimes the aftercare feels a little rushed or trite - bad stuff happens, then the character has to deal with it both emotionally and physically. The idea that simply living in the countryside can make a person healthy certainly feels like it wandered in from The Secret Garden, nor do I like how mental health professionals are depicted, but I guess it was a different time. Generally I think Magorian's historical research pays off in creating an immersive world, though sometimes it feels a little on the nose. Likewise sometimes she just states how a character feels, which is surprisingly clumsy. Anyway, it's a bit of a sob fest and I'm not really sure that it builds to much, but it is certainly compelling.