Details:
- author: Hilary McKay
- full title: The Swallows' Flight
- narrator: Katherine Press
- genre: middle-grade, historical fiction
- content warnings: animalharm, death of family members, war
- topics: #friendship #comingofage#war
- publisher: OrangeSky Audio
- publish date: 19.10.2021
- timing: 7:03:33
My Rating of the Audiobook:
- content: 💙💙💙.5
- narration: 💙💙💙💙
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| Goodreads |
Excerpt from the Book:
One summer, when he was ten years old, Erik became famous for buying dead flies.
‘Really!’ said Hans, who was in the same class at school and had just moved into the apartment below. ‘You’re always becoming famous for something embarrassing!’
‘I know,’ admitted Erik, because it did seem a bit that way. The falling off the bridge on the school expedition to the river; his hospital for dolls - he’d fixed one small girl’s doll and the news got round, ‘Erik can mend dolls!’ and suddenly he’d found himself with a bedroom full of prim china faces not necessarily attached to their bodies.
And now he was buying flies.
My Thoughts:
Swallows’ Flight is a good middle-grade historical fiction novel set in the time of war. It is a story of three children: Kate, Ruby from England, and Erik from Germany. And how their lives change when WWII starts. There are a few difficult themes, but this is a story of war. So you can expect that. To be honest, I didn’t like the part about animal harm, and I don’t know how I feel about that. Also, at moments, it was a bit too sad for middle-graders.
Otherwise, I liked it, and I’m sure many children who can read about the war will enjoy it. This novel shows the reader that during the war, there were honest and good people on both sides.
About the Author:
Hilary McKay was born in Boston, Lincolnshire and is the eldest of four girls. From a very early age she read voraciously and grew up in a household of readers. Hilary says of herself as a child "I anaesthetised myself against the big bad world with large doses of literature. The local library was as familiar to me as my own home."After reading Botany and Zoology at St. Andrew's University Hilary then went on to work as a biochemist in an Analysis Department. Hilary enjoyed the work but at the same time had a burning desire to write. After the birth of her two children, Hilary wanted to devote more time to bringing up her children and writing so decided to leave her job.
One of the best things about being a writer, says Hilary, is receiving letters from children. She wishes that she had written to authors as a child, but it never occurred to her to contact them
Hilary now lives in a small village in Derbyshire with her family. When not writing Hilary loves walking, reading, and having friends to stay.
