When the Sky Falls

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A boy and a gorilla create an unbelievable bond in this powerful WWII tale for young readers, for fans of Alan Gratz and Michael Morpugo.

The story opens in a train station where children are being evacuated to the countryside, except Joseph who is being sent to the city by his grandmother. An unlikely friendship develops out of need for teamwork between Joseph and his guardian Mrs F, who is in charge of the city zoo. Joseph is an unhappy lad who is missing his father fighting in the war and unable to comprehend why his mother left him. The characterisation in this book was really good. Each character has an easily recognisable strong personality and together they all contrast very well. This strong characterisation will definitely speak out to younger audiences and make this book popular. I especially like the pairing of Mrs F and Joseph - they are both stubborn yet vulnerable characters yet as the plot develops the unlikely pairing find a home in each other. Joseph was a very dislikable character to begin with, which made the book hard to get into as I couldn’t empathise with him. However, as Layers of his personality are peeled away throughout the book you begin to like him. A heartwarming story about the value of friendship and trust. In which love plays an important role.

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The ending of the book was suitably sad and fitted the story well; the way Joseph and Mrs F were united in the face of their mutual loss was inspiring yet devastating for the reader.

Most children during the war were evacuated from cities, to safer places in the countryside. Joseph was not one of these children. He was 'evacuated' from his home in a place (which I think remains nameless) to a city (that as far as I know also remains nameless). Joseph is rude, abnoxious, and downright selfish. And he doesn't exactly get on with his host Mrs Farrelly. And when he's put to work on what remains of her zoo, it seems that even Adonis, the resident ape, takes a dislike to him. Soon, though, they seem to form a kind of friendship. But when the bombs start to fall, he has to make a choice - let the ape free or shoot him on the spot? And this decision may well cost him his life. A scrumptious plot that was fabulously delivered.That was part of a wider issue with the elements introduced as playing on Joseph's psyche never really cohering into a narrative. The dyslexia was underserved alongside the threads of Joseph's father, mother, and grandma. We didn't need resolution and catharsis on these threads but we did need a little development in each case if they were going to become a story rather than inert.