Hangman Book

Established British author of several children's books for the 8-12-year-old age group (including Time-Travelling Cat and When Poppy Ran Away) Julia Jarman confronts the painfully recurrent issue of bullying. As with all her books, before starting to write she spoke to lots of children and adults and collected a great deal of 'real life' data. Her method works. Hangman is simply written and easy to read but its story is not an easy one. When Danny, the odd, detached, pedantic boy Toby knew at Primary school, turns up at his secondary school Toby is not pleased. He's worked hard to get in with the cool, laid back sporty set and he doesn't want to feel responsible for an odd ball. While Toby sits on the fence his other 'friends' take over. Danny is remorselessly bullied both in and out of school. Things come to a head on a school trip to Normandy, close to the D-day beaches where men fought against Fascism. A mean game goes dreadfully wrong and a simple children's story becomes a totally absorbing, frightening and sobering lesson in life. A truly powerful read. (Ages 8 to 12). --Tamsin PalmerRead More