The Skylarks' War: Winner of the Costa Children’s Book Award

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Not long ago I heard a piece on NPR about the revival of the play, The Boys in the Band of which this was said:

The Skylarks War - Book Review - Nikki Young The Skylarks War - Book Review - Nikki Young

I have really enjoyed reading The Skylarks’ War and experiencing the journey of Clarry and her brother. I have a few favourite characters from this story. Clarry is everyone’s favourite character and I too have fallen in love with her. Peter is my second; I love his silly characteristic and his slight pessimistic vibe on occasion. Rupert has to be my absolute favourite as you just cannot help falling in love with this young man. He is portrayed as this idyllic teen and sees the good in almost everything. I was determined not to re-read The Skylarks’ War before I read The Swallows’ Flight. Asequel has to stand on its own. I have to admit that the cast of characters baffled me at first. I longed for a family tree, and actually began to compile one, when I discovered one at the end of the book. It’s worth referring to till you get the different characters and their relationships sorted, and then the narrative bowls along. Clarry, Peter and Rupert are still there, as strong and lovable adults, but it’s not their story. Clarry and her older brother Peter live for their summers in Cornwall, staying with their grandparents and running free with their charismatic cousin, Rupert. But normal life comes to an end as the shadow of a terrible war looms - and when Rupert goes off to fight at the Front, Clarry feels their skylarks summers are finally slipping away from them. Can their family survive this fearful war?" (Blurb)The story gives readers a vivid glimpse into the trials and tribulations of life on the Home Front during the First World War, from the fears for relatives fighting overseas through to the more daily practicalities such as food shortages and children having to take on jobs in their home as their mothers went out to work to fill the roles vacated by the men away at war. The differences between schooling now and then feature heavily too. I also recently blogged about another WWII-related book – Shadow Time Stories by Lilo Beil. What do you think? Clarry, growing up in the early 1900’s, realises the opportunities for girls and the expectations put upon them, are different than those for boys, but she fights against that. Both clever and hardworking, she earns a place at a grammar school and sets her sights on a scholarship to Oxford. Rupert and Peter, on the other hand, are reluctant boarding school pupils, who cannot wait until the day they can leave. By featuring contemporary teenagers experiencing some of the highs and lows of the period, the contrast between their lives in 2018 and that of their fellow pupils in 1918 ensures the book is immediately relatable to younger readers.

The Swallows’ Flight’ by Hilary McKay – Berlie Doherty ‘The Swallows’ Flight’ by Hilary McKay – Berlie Doherty

This is so meticulously plotted that I don't quite know how to untangle what didn't work for me from what absolutely did. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in learning about World War One or anyone who likes historical fiction in general. It was a great read and I really enjoyed reading this book. The writing flowed well but the plot got boring near the end. The description used was very detailed. Skylarks are present throughout the year but most often detected in spring/summer when singing and in autumn during daytime visible migration; noticeably low recording during late summer moult. The Skylarks' War is a poignant narrative following the lives of Clarissa ( Clarry), her brother Peter and cousin Rupert. Growing up at a time when the world outside was amidst turmoil, the three and their friends build happy memories together that are at stake during the world war. The 'pity of war' that Owen once wrote about has been brought out once again from the perspective of a kids growing into adults. Although the book does get a bit draggy owing to the monotonous writing style, the plot has been executed brilliantly. On either side of the line were the armies. Neither was winning, although not because they didn't try. [...] Absolutely ordinary people made considerable efforts to kill other absolutely ordinary people whom they had never even met.The Skylarks' War will make you laugh and cry. I found myself hugging it to my chest several times and wondering how many people I could make read this book asap. The novel is funny, sad, poignant and always absorbing, with engaging and believable characters. There is intense and sometimes searing drama throughout the narrative of Erik and Hans’ wartime years. They, future pilots, create the evocative symbolic thread that runs through the novel: “ Perhaps because Erik had watched so many birds – the scythe-cuts of swifts, the kestrels on their sky-hooks, the ribbon trails of his beloved swallows – perhaps because of these, the air seemed to him a natural place to be, from the very first flight.” It begins and ends with the image of swallows. My favourite character was Vanessa because of her individuality. She has a unique personality that was mostly consistent throughout the book. This is great because it makes it more obvious when she is not quite herself. She is so strong and cheerful when anything bad happens. The only time she is emotional is when her brother dies in the war.

The Skylarks’ War / Young Quills reviews 2019 / Historical The Skylarks’ War / Young Quills reviews 2019 / Historical

I really enjoyed this book because, unlike other books written about the war, it also focuses on each character’s life before the war starts. I love how the author displays the struggles of a young girl before and during the war.I find Peter very interesting from the lengths he went to, to not have to be sent off to boarding school. I also liked when Peter wanted to go but he then found he wasn’t fit enough. There is good evidence to indicate that the most likely cause of declines in Skylark is agricultural intensification, specifically the change from spring to autumn sowing of cereals, which reduces the number of breeding attempts possible and may also reduce overwinter survival due to loss of winter stubbles. It is an ideal story to introduce young children to important time periods in history in a way that helps them experience a small slice of it themselves through the characters. The line was the shape of a long, lopsided smile. A ravenous, expectant smile. A greedy, unreasonable smile, considering how very, very well it was fed. I think it would work better as a Noel Streatfeild book, with the focus on the home front; lines like "'For those in peril on the sea!' sang the girls, and of course the seas were perilous, that was well known from poetry" feel very Streatfeildian in tone. (Perhaps that's another thing that makes the book feel too contemporary: Streatfeild, after all, didn't write about WWI.)View a summary of recoveries in the Online Ringing Report. Foreign locations of birds ringed or recovered in Britain & Ireland Encountered in: Crowley points to one important line that he wrote: "Not all faggots bump themselves off at the end of the story." It's voiced by the character he based on himself. Anyway, this is a short book, but it FEELS big. It also feels old school, the way it follows Clarry from childhood to adulthood. I miss books like that. The plot of the story was a combination of a few attributes and the way it was written portrayed this very well. At times of sadness the story moved slow as if time [had stopped], this was prominent when Simon died. Also, in times of hope and adventure the story moves fast as something is constantly going on. The Skylarks’ War is a truly wonderful book set before and during World War I. It is about a young girl named Clarry who sends letters to her most loved and only cousin Rupert who joins the army and is then sent to the front line once the Great War breaks out. The story starts when Clarry is born, although not long afterwards her mother dies, leaving poor Clarry and her older brother Peter with a father who would prefer that Clarry had never been born. As the story progresses the characters develop, each having their own personality and problems. I like that when more people are then introduced to the story they all have well-described characters and make the plot much more interesting.

The Skylarks’ War by Hilary McKay | Goodreads The Skylarks’ War by Hilary McKay | Goodreads

Occasionally, very occasionally, you read a book that slips so perfectly into the canon that it seems as if it was always there. That you read it as a child, reread it over and over, until it forms part of you along with Anne Shirley and Jo March, the Fossil sisters, Jo Bettany and Veronica Weston and Nicola Marlowe... the Skylarks' War is such a book. Clarry and her older brother Peter live for their summers in Cornwall, staying with their grandparents and running free with their charismatic cousin, Rupert. But normal life resumes each September - boarding school for Peter and Rupert, and a boring life for Clarry at home with her absent father, as the shadow of a terrible war looms ever closer. When Rupert goes off to fight at the front, Clarry feels their skylark summers are finally slipping away from them. A substantial amount of work has been undertaken to research options which enable the autumn sowing of crops whilst still enabling Skylarks to raise more than one brood. In particular, these have focused on the provision of 'Skylark plots' (small gaps deliberately left within crops) ( Schmidt et al. 2017; Donald & Morris 2005), which are now an option in agri-environment schemes. Plots can be created either at the time of sowing (by turning off the seed drill) or at a later date (by spraying herbicide). The former is a better option for Skylark, as the plots have greater vegetation cover and higher invertebrate abundance, and should be preferred. If plots are created by spraying this should be done no later than December ( Dillon et al. 2009). This is a difficult one because I have two friend who love and adore this book, even to the point where they cried over certain scenes and swear it is the best thing since slice bread, so for me to admit that I did not like it at all is probably going to get me killed. When you do come with your pitchforks, please be gentle with me... I would definitely recommend this book to other pupils because it taught me about different people’s lives and thoughts during the war.

This species can be found on the following statutory and conservation listings and schedules. UK Birds of Conservation Concern