As a child I loved reading war stories. My favourite books were The Machine Gunners, Carrie’s War, When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit, I Am David and The Silver Sword. That love of historical fiction has stayed with me and the books that I adore as an adult fall into that genre. Many of my favourites are middle grade stories from the great storytellers Hilary MacKay, Lesley Parr, Phil Earle, Tom Palmer, Michael Morpurgo and more. I can now add Claire Mulligan to that list after reading her wonderful debut, The Hunt For David Berman.
It is 1940 and Britain is at war with Germany. We meet Robert who has been evacuated from London to his grandparent’s farm in Scotland, His Dad is away fighting and his mother is a WREN. Robert and his younger sister, Elsa, are settling into life on the farm but Robert especially is missing home and is being bullied in his new school. One day he heads to the beach with a torch his Dad gave to him, to explore the caves there, just as he did when he was a boy. Robert finds something better than treasure, he finds a German boy called David. David came to England alone on the Kindertransport when life in Germany became too dangerous for Jewish families. David’s father had been killed and he had to leave his Mama and Oma in Deutschland. David has now run away from a cruel foster family and is living in the caves.
The boys, unsure of one another at first (are supposed to be enemies) strike up a friendship and have adventures together, as children do.
But life is not simple in times of war, there is another thread to this story. At the Gestapo Headquarters in Berlin, an Enigma codebook is missing. It has been hidden in the lining of David’s suitcase and now he is being hunted by a Nazi spy with orders to find the book and kill the boy!
The Hunt for David Berman is an emotional rollercoaster of a read. It is a tale of friendship, family, community, belonging, bravery and courage beyond belief.
This is a story that reminds us of how innocent children, on all sides, get caught up in war.
It is a story that can be used with children studying WWII to begin discussions and learning around prejudice, persecution, anti-semitism and the treatment of Jews by the Nazis.
As this story moves forward Robert and David are bonded together through shared experiences and by telling one another about their lives, their families and homes.
Even when faced with all the horrors of the world children remain children. Children are children. The two boys play together, share stories, read comics and eat sweets. They head out on daring, perilous adventures. They befriend animals and collect treasures. They are just two little boys.
Except of course, they are not. Both have been sent away from all they know and all they love because their homes are no longer safe. They could not stay.
The Hunt for David Berman is a brilliant book for talking to children about evacuation and Kindertransport. It is also a wonderful way of developing empathy for children in the world today who are forced to flee their homes and leave behind their families because it is no longer safe for them to stay.
This book is also a brilliant vehicle for introducing children to espionage during WWII, looking at code breaking and the Enigma Machine. The story can be used as a springboard for exploring life on the homefront and jobs for women in the Second World War.
Claire Mulligan’s writing is beautiful and she uses clever dynamics in her storytelling to deliver emotional punches and breathtaking cliffhangers filled with suspense. This story grips you from the start and it does not let go it’s grasp, not even at the very end. This is a tale of two boys that will stay with you. You cannot help but love Robert and David and the bond that binds them together.
All the characters are compelling and tangible. Especially Robert’s grandparents. Claire’s emotive scene setting and character descriptions knit together so beautifully in the story to describe the pain of losing a child on the battlefield. She truly makes you feel the love, loss, pain and grief of the family. She shows vividly the impact of war on those left behind. Claire creates a powerful, moving portrayal of loss.
This is a story that will steal your heart but it is also an incredible resource for the classroom. A gift for teachers. Some of the MANY ideas that sprang to my educator mind while reading were –
Talking to children about belonging.
What does it mean to belong? What does belonging feel like?
What does it mean to be safe? How do we know we are safe?
What makes a house / a place a home?
Both boys in the book miss their families and long for home. Children could discuss and write their own memories of home. They could talk about and describe some of their most treasured possessions. Why are they special? What meaning do they have? What memories do they hold?
Children could write predictions about the story as they read a particularly dramatic suspenseful cliffhanger.
Children could learn about Morse Code. They can create and decipher messages.
The book may lead children on to exploring letter and diary writing, they may look at real life correspondence and journals from the war. There is also an opportunity in the story to think about the power of music to bring people together and to heal.
There is so much inspiration for teaching and learning in the pages of this wartime adventure story but mostly it is a brilliant story beautifully told. It will have you on the edge of your seat, crying tears of sadness and joy. A story of friendship, family and belonging that will leave you with hope in your heart.
