A fictional story of a World War II ghter shot down behind enemy lines who must undertake a dangerous trek across France. e story o ers a unique perspective on post-World War II France.

Laura Elliott was kind enough to send me an ARC of this title. Just finished it a few minutes ago and had to send her an email letting her know how it had affected me. Hopefully she won't mind that I'm including part of it below:

You have such a gift for creating characters who really resonate with kids. It sounds so cliched to say that you bring history to life for them, but WOW. Kids who thought they had "learned" World War II are going to be knocked off their feet when they read this. Letting readers know what happened to Henry and Patsy after he returned home is nice, but this story goes so far beyond that... for me, it was even more powerful than the first one.

This sequel to Under a War-Torn Sky does stand alone, but why let it? Elliott's historical fiction is too good to miss one of her titles.
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While I really enjoyed the story of the first book, the sequel was somewhat disappointing. I didn't have to force myself to get through it, but in the end, it seemed that the book was almost not necessary and perhaps a bit far-fetched.

Henry seems to overcome all difficulties so easily it is almost farcical - just because it's YA doesn't mean that everything has to have such a 'happy' ending - particularly in a post-WWII tale. Sure, there is the acknowledgment of death and atrocity, but not really for Henry - he meets all his old 'friends' that helped him escape in "Under a War-Torn Sky"...what's the chance of that? Along the way, he also meets or sees several famous people (although he doesn't necessarily know it).

Mostly, while interesting to investigate what the end of the war was really like for France - not pretty - the story seems too much like a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie....predictable and too easy for the protagonist. I think the afterword was the most fascinating part of the book. With some adult guidance, this could be an educational historical fiction book, but I'm not sure how much young adults reading this would really understand the politics and struggles involved on their own. ( )

An interesting story which I felt like I walked into the middle of. I haven't read Under a War Torn Sky to which this is the sequel. I'm sure that if I had, I would have been thrilled to find all the loose ends tied up. Unfortunately, it was all new to me and thought the author did her best to "remind" the reader what had happened previously, the novel was less than satisfying. ( )

This is not a novel about war, but about the post World War II period in France. Some kids who like to read about war may not like this because there's not a lot of "action", but it does give the reader a sense of the enormous difficulties that remain after a war is won, something that many young readers may not have thought about. Henry, an American soldier, cannot return to normal after the war. In particular, he suffers from what we now know as Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome, with nightmares and anger problems. He also is wracked with guilt about a young boy in France who helped save him when he was captured by the Nazis (his war story was told in Under a War Torn Sky). So he returns to France to find Pierre and hopefully to help heal himself. ( )