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A review by panda_incognito
Hettie and the London Blitz: A World War II Survival Story by Jenni L. Walsh
3.0
This book covers the span of six years in just over a hundred pages, and it makes the book feel very rushed. The story provides solid historical information about the London Blitz and long-term evacuation efforts from that time, but it never went deep enough into the characters' experiences to satisfy me, since the author had to keep moving on to cover the passage of time.
My biggest critique of this book, however, isn't the pacing. I can accept the pacing issues as necessary for telling this story to a young audience, but I was disappointed by how sanitized this story is in comparison to others from the same series. I couldn't help negatively comparing this to [b:Ruth and the Night of Broken Glass: A World War II Survival Story|43586151|Ruth and the Night of Broken Glass A World War II Survival Story|Emma Carlson Berne|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1560220508l/43586151._SX50_.jpg|67815104], which is powerful, immediate, intense, and honest about the sheer amount of trauma involved.
This book deals with the trauma of family separation and has some scenes of peril related to bombings, but it feels sanitized overall. The ending felt rushed and overly happy, and it didn't feel authentic enough to the time period.
This level of good fortune within Hettie's family and inner circle is statistically possible, but it seemed like the author just wanted to tie a bow on things and make it seem like everything was fine, when a lot of people were NOT fine. I would have been more satisfied if the author had opted for a happy ending for Hettie's family while representing heavier losses beyond them. However, on the positive side, this book is a lighter read for sensitive children. If a child wants to read this series, but isn't sure that they can handle some of the heavier content, this would be a good title to start with.
My biggest critique of this book, however, isn't the pacing. I can accept the pacing issues as necessary for telling this story to a young audience, but I was disappointed by how sanitized this story is in comparison to others from the same series. I couldn't help negatively comparing this to [b:Ruth and the Night of Broken Glass: A World War II Survival Story|43586151|Ruth and the Night of Broken Glass A World War II Survival Story|Emma Carlson Berne|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1560220508l/43586151._SX50_.jpg|67815104], which is powerful, immediate, intense, and honest about the sheer amount of trauma involved.
This book deals with the trauma of family separation and has some scenes of peril related to bombings, but it feels sanitized overall.
Spoiler
Everyone in this girl's family survives, and their house is still standing at the end of the war. Her hosts' two sons both survive the war, and everyone in her best friend's family survives as well.This level of good fortune within Hettie's family and inner circle is statistically possible, but it seemed like the author just wanted to tie a bow on things and make it seem like everything was fine, when a lot of people were NOT fine. I would have been more satisfied if the author had opted for a happy ending for Hettie's family while representing heavier losses beyond them. However, on the positive side, this book is a lighter read for sensitive children. If a child wants to read this series, but isn't sure that they can handle some of the heavier content, this would be a good title to start with.