The Kingdom by the Sea

I thought that I was getting Paul Theroux’s book with the same name, but no, it was a child’s book by an award-winning author. No problem. I will try it anyway. And what a surprise, especially since I like survival stories, and this was one. It was also a surprise, too, that it was a children’s book......more

A gorgeous book, genuinely moving and sweet. The characters, both good and bad, are subtle and realistic. Though the book is aimed at young adults, Westall doesn't patronise or shy away from more adult ideas, and for this reason, I found it still spoke to me, despite being many years outside the tar......more

Reading this book before teaching it with a year 5 class.. this book absolutely broke my heart. I really felt for Harry as the end of the book I feel should’ve been extremely happy… he finds his family after believing they’ve all been killed. But is he really happy? I feel his story followed his jou......more

The Kingdom by the Sea is a story of Harry finding out that his family got caught in the bombing and didn't survive. Not wanting to be sent to his Cousin Elsie, he runs away in search for a new place to call home. He travels from his local town to another, hoping to start afresh where nobody knows h......more

I would have given this one three stars but for the ending, which kind of defeated the rest of the book for me. Overall, this was a good little adventure story of a boy surviving on his own by the ocean after his home gets bombed out in WWII. "Episodic" is definitely the word for most of the story. B......more