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War Is Over

Newcastle, 1918. It seems like the war could last forever. John’s an ordinary Tyneside lad and he’s desperate for peace. His dad is fighting in the trenches and his mam works in the town’s munitions factory, the biggest in the world. John meets a German boy, Jan, who is just like himself; they play war games in the woods beyond the town, and see the ugliness of weapons contrasting with the beauty of the world around them. John dreams of a better, more beautiful world. His dreams will speak to all of us, and his questions resonate with children of today. Is war ever really over? Why do children see the truths from which adults seem to hide? Why do we need wars at all?

Description

From the bestselling, award-winning author of SKELLIG comes a vivid and moving story, beautifully illustrated, which commemorates the hundred-year anniversary of the end of the First World War.

“I am just a child,” says John. “How can I be at war?”

It’s 1918, and war is everywhere. John’s dad is fighting in the trenches far away in France. His mum works in the munitions factory just along the road. His teacher says that John is fighting, too, that he is at war with enemy children in Germany.

One day, in the wild woods outside town, John has an impossible moment: a meeting with a German boy named Jan. John catches a glimpse of a better world, in which children like Jan and himself can come together, and scatter the seeds of peace.

Gorgeously illustrated by David Litchfield, this is a book to treasure.