Private Peaceful by Michael Morpurgo

Plot:  It is about a soldier called Thomas "Tommo" Peaceful, who is looking back on his life from the trenches of World War I in France. Each chapter of the book brings the reader closer to the present until the story turns to present tense. It all starts off with him explaining his pure dread of having to go to school with his elder brother Charlie. (His other brother ‘Big Joe’ has learning difficulties and so stays at home with his Mother).  At school he meets a young girl named Molly (of whom he develops a love for) and after that day Thomas, Charlie and Molly become bestfriends or the ‘trio’ as they call it. They go on many adventures together however Thomas realises that Charlie and Molly grow closer and he feels left out. Later on Charlie and Thomas get recruited for the army and are taken to train and then on to the trenches of France. From here many twists and turns take place until the end where all seems lost.

Characters:

Thomas Peaceful- Protagonist

Charlie Peaceful- Thomas’ elder Brother

Big Joe- Thomas’ oldest brother

Mother- Mother

Molly- the boy’s bestfriend

Grandma Wolf- horrid Grandmother

Sergeant ‘Horrible’ Hanley- Sergeant who brings difficulty to them in the later stages of the book

The Colonel- employer

What I enjoyed:

I enjoyed the way Michael Morpurgo changed the tense until the two stories met. He included facts as well as places we had visited on the Ypres trip. It really emphasized what it was like to be a soldier in WW1: the diet, the conditions, diseases, feelings, weather, the training and recruitment and how the English ploughed through.

Recommended for 11+

Those who want a first hand account of life of a soldier in WW1.

I would give this book 4 stars as the ending was a slight anti-climax.

Enjoy!